GT IPL 2026 Auction Review: Gujarat Titans add back-ups and more pace options to already strong squad

The Gujarat Titans (GT) were part of a small list of franchises that did not need to do a whole lot at the Indian Premier League (IPL) mini-auction in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday. They still needed a couple of back-ups and a bit of depth in some other areas, but that dwarfed in comparison to the overhaul some other franchises had to indulge in.

READ | GT IPL Auction 2026: Gujarat Titans full squad after auction and complete players list

To that end, the Titans did okay. They brought in Tom Banton, who can act as a back-up to Jos Buttler. Jason Holder provides value as an all-rounder and could be trialled as a finisher, whereas Ashok Sharma, with his pace, adds more strength to an already potent Indian pace-bowling department.

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GT also like their left-arm pacers and it was, thus, not a surprise that Luke Wood, a left-arm seamer hailing from England, also came in through the door.

🗣️: Our auction review by none other than Ashish Nehra 😎 pic.twitter.com/3bYPkW5b0C

— Gujarat Titans (@gujarat_titans) December 16, 2025

Gujarat Titans 2026 squad: Biggest Strength

Their bowling attack. A case could very well be made for the Titans’ top three, given how many runs the likes of Buttler, Sai Sudharsan and captain Shubman Gill mustered last season, but a solid top order is, often, the norm in the IPL.

A great bowling unit, though, sets teams apart and that has been a hallmark of previous GT sides too. Prasidh Krishna and Mohammed Siraj do have a tendency to be expensive on occasions, but neither put a foot wrong in the 2025 edition.

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Add Kagiso Rabada and Rashid Khan to the mix, and this is a title-winning complement. Not to mention the tidy work R Sai Kishore and Washington Sundar can do with the ball. And if Glenn Phillips plays, GT have another part-time off-spinner they can turn to.

Do the math, and that comes out to seven possible bowling options in their probable playing twelve. Not shabby. Not shabby at all.

Gujarat Titans 2026 squad: Biggest Weakness

Their middle-order muddle. To be fair to them, it could be said that almost every team in the IPL, just because there are ten of them now, have some sort of weakness or grey area that oppositions can target. But that does not take away from the fact that this is a crack the Titans will have to paper over.

READ | IPL 2026 Full Squads: How the 10 teams stack up after mini auction in Abu Dhabi

As things stand, it seems GT are sticking by the players that have performed the finisher’s role already for them aka Rahul Tewatia and Shahrukh Khan, despite them battling injuries and form, respectively. They are also relying on Phillips to turn up consistently, while hoping that if that does not materialize, Holder can fill into his shoes.

And those options, given the riches GT have elsewhere, just make this a bit of a weakness. Although if Buttler, Gill and Sudharsan can score as heavily as they did earlier in the year, this might be reduced to a moot point.

Jason Holder is a 𝗧𝗶𝘁𝗮𝗻! 💪

The big-hitting all-rounder goes to @gujarat_titans for INR 7 Crore 👏#TATAIPL | #TATAIPLAuction pic.twitter.com/Y6Y8XDSshb

— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) December 16, 2025

Gujarat Titans at IPL 2026 Auction: What could they have done differently?

Well, GT could have pressed harder for a proper finisher, rather than hedging their bets on Banton, Holder and Phillips (who was already part of the squad). But it is not as black-and-white because there were not many finishers available, especially once GT decided that they did not want to dip back in for David Miller. Meaning that the purchase of players like Banton and Holder, who also double up in other roles (Banton as a back-up keeper; Holder as a pacer) make sense.

They also finished the auction with Rs 1.95 crore in their bank, having opted not to fill their eighth and final overseas slot - instead going for an Indian - and that could possibly have been used to find cover for Rabada, although Wood, just a day after being bought, showed in the BBL that he could step up if necessary.

Either way, that could be termed nit-picking because GT did not need a lot of signings in the first place.

Predicted twelve for Gujarat Titans (Impact Player included)

1 Shubman Gill (c) 2 Sai Sudharsan 3 Jos Buttler (wk) 4 Washington Sundar 5 Glenn Phillips 6 Shahrukh Khan 7 Rahul Tewatia 8 Rashid Khan 9 R Sai Kishore 10 Kagiso Rabada 11 Mohammed Siraj 12 Prasidh Krishna

IPL Auction 2026: Players purchased by Gujarat Titans

Ashok Sharma (Rs 90 lakh), Jason Holder (Rs 7 crore), Tom Banton (Rs 2 crore), Prithvi Raj Yarra (Rs 30 lakh), Luke Wood (Rs 75 lakh)

Gujarat Titans full squad for IPL 2026

Shubman Gill (c), Sai Sudharsan, Kumar Kushagra, Anuj Rawat, Jos Buttler (wk), Nishant Sindhu, Washington Sundar, Arshad Khan, Shahrukh Khan, Rahul Tewatia, Kagiso Rabada, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Ishant Sharma, Gurnoor Singh Brar, Rashid Khan, Manav Suthar, Sai Kishore, Jayant Yadav, Glenn Phillips, Ashok Sharma, Jason Holder, Tom Banton, Prithvi Raj Yarra, Luke Wood