Former Indian wicket-keeper batsman Parthiv Patel feels Shahrukh Khan was the best buy for Gujarat Titans in the Indian Premier League 2024 auction. The 2022 champions were able to rope in the hard-hitting batter for a whopping amount of INR 7.40 crores.
As Hardik Pandya made a move to his former franchise Mumbai Indians in an all-cash trade deal, GT needed a finisher in their playing XI. The 28-year-old from Tamil Nadu has scored 426 runs in 33 IPL matches at an average of 20.29 and a strike rate of 134.81.
Thus, Khan will aim to deliver better numbers for Gujarat Titans in the upcoming season of the IPL. Apart from Shahrukh Khan, GT was able to add players like Umesh Yadav (Rs 5.8 crore), Sushant Mishra (Rs 2.2 crore), Kartik Tyagi (Rs 60 lakh), Azmatullah Omarzai (Rs 50 lakh), Manav Suthar (Rs 20 lakh), Spencer Johnson (Rs 10 crore) and Robin Minz (Rs 3.6 crore) to their squad.
“The biggest gap they had to fill was the one left by Hardik Pandya. I feel they have shown faith in Shahrukh Khan there. He can bat both ways at No. 5 or No. 6. He is an experienced player. I feel Shahrukh Khan was their best buy,” said Patel while speaking to JioCinema.
Gujarat Titans were involved in a bidding war with Kolkata Knight Riders for Mitchell Starc but could not close the deal. Patel said GT is looking strong but they will wonder that they could not get their first-choice players.
“The team is looking strong but based on the purse they had, they might be thinking that they probably didn’t get their first-choice players. They wanted Mitchell Starc. They went till 24.50 crores for him but could they have spent more there?,” Patel added.
GT SQUAD FOR IPL 2024
David Miller, Shubman Gill (c), Matthew Wade, Wriddhiman Saha, Kane Williamson, Abhinav Manohar, B. Sai Sudharsan, Darshan Nalkande, Vijay Shankar, Jayant Yadav, Rahul Tewatia, Mohammed Shami, Noor Ahmad, Sai Kishore, Rashid Khan, Joshua Little, Mohit Sharma, Azmatullah Omarzai, Umesh Yadav, Shahrukh Khan, Sushant Mishra, Kartik Tyagi, Manav Suthar, Spencer Johnson, Robin Minz.
