The 16th edition of the Indian T20 League is set to start on March 31 at Narendra Modi stadium in Ahmedabad. The defending Champions Gujarat will start their campaign against MS Dhoni’s Chennai on 31 March in the opening game of the tournament. Hardik Pandya led Gujarat in their debut season and shocked every team with their amazing team performance. The team will look to continue its dominance this season is not going to be that easy for them. Today in this article we will discuss the top three reasons which might derail Gujarat’s campaign this season.
Gujarat ahead of the mini-auction last year finalized some trading deals with Kolkata. They traded their top two foreign players with the two-time champions ahead of the auction. They traded Lockie Ferguson and Rahmatullah Gurbaz for Shivam Mavi from Kolkata. The New Zealand pacer had a mediocre season with the franchise as he clinched 12 wickets in 14 games.
Although Mavi comes with a good bowling option his fitness will be a big question ahead of the tournament. Mavi last played a competitive game in January against New Zealand in the ODI series. Apart from him Gujarat have only Mohammed Shami and Mohit Kumar as Indian pace options who also don’t give full confidence. However, trading Gurbaz could be a good option as the team has plenty of batters but they will lack to find backups.
Star India all rounder Hardik Pandya led Gujarat from the front last season. He led the team from both bat and ball and rescued the team from various crunch situations. Although Gujarat has Hardik they lack other all-around options. Apart from Hardik, they have Vijay Shankar, Odean Smith, and Rahul Tewatia as all-rounders.
These options don’t give confidence to the team as they are not so consistent. Tewatia who played a domestic season for Haryana had an average season. He clinched 13 wickets in seven matches against weak teams like Bihar and Goa. However, he failed to mark any impact with the bat. They also lack proper foreign allrounders and this will put pressure on Hardik Pandya.
1. Overdependence on Rashid Khan
A segment where Gujarat doesn’t have any backup option is the spin bowling department. They have the world’s best spinner Rashid Khan with them who can change the game at any moment. Rashid is their biggest strength and he could turn into their biggest nightmare too. As Rashid has been treated as a great bowler teams will try to just play his overs and attack other bowlers.
In this case, Gujarat will lack spin options in the middle and that will harm their plans. Notably, they have Jayant Yadav as a backup spinner but his form will be under the scanner. Meanwhile, Rashid’s numbers are also a big concern for the team as the Afghani spinner has failed to impress fans in recent times. While playing with MI Cape Town in SA T20 Rashid clinched just nine wickets in ten games.