Former Indian cricketer Anil Kumble lauded the franchise's auction operations and characterised the signing of KS Bharat as a good backup option for wicketkeepers Wriddhiman Saha and Mathew Wade.
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Gujarat Titans, the current Indian Premier League winners, have made some good signings at the IPL 2023 mini-auction. The Titans made their first acquisition, West Indies bowling all-rounder Odean Smith, for INR 50 lakh, and then made news by signing Kane Williamson for INR 2 crore. The Titans also won the offer for talented Indian wicketkeeper batter, KS Bharat, for INR 1.2 crore, but their greatest deal of the day was the INR 6 crore signing of promising bowler Shivam Mavi. Former Indian cricketer Anil Kumble lauded the franchise’s auction operations and characterised the signing of KS Bharat as a good backup option for wicketkeepers Wriddhiman Saha and Mathew Wade.
“Gujarat Titans have done well – Odean Smith for 50 lakhs, Kane Williamson at the base price of 2 cr, Bharat at 1.2 cr, and Mavi as well. I have heard some good words coming from Rahul Dravid on someone like Bharat and it’s really nice that someone like him has had the opportunity. We spoke about getting a wicket-keeper batter, not as a replacement but as a backup for Wriddhiman Saha and Mathew Wade and I think Bharat fits that bill and it’s wonderful to see him be part of Gujarat Titans,” Anil Kumble said.
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The Titans came into the auction with INR 19.25 crore. They traded Lockie Ferguson, a Kiwi pacer, and wicketkeeper batter Rahmanullah Gurbaz to the Kolkata Knight Riders before of the 2023 auction. They were the first and only team to make a bid for Williamson, the first pick to be auctioned off on Friday. They had no competition in signing Odean Smith, who cost about INR 50 lakh. However, they had to compete with Chennai Super Kings for KS Bharat before signing him for INR 1.2 crore. Gujarat Titans had stiff competition for Mavi’s signature, with Rajasthan Royals expressing serious interest. However, the Titans once again won the bidding war.
Gujarat Titans squad for IPL 2023: Hardik Pandya (c), Shubman Gill, David Miller, Wriddhiman Saha, Matthew Wade, Abhinav Manohar, Sai Sudarshan, Rahul Tewatia, Rashid Khan, Vijay Shankar, R Sai Kishore, Jayant Yadav, Mohammad Shami, Alzarri Joseph, Yash Dayal, Noor Ahmad, Darshan Nalkande, Pradeep Sangwan, Kane Williamson, Odean Smith, Shivam Mavi, KS Bharat, Urvil Patel, Joshua Little, Mohit Sharma
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