The team finished third on the points table in IPL 2025.
Gujarat Titans (GT) all-rounder Washington Sundar will step into a new role in the upcoming season of the Indian Premier League (IPL). The Gujarat Titans retention list is set to be announced on November 15. Skipper Shubman Gill and Ashish Nehra are on the same page, and the duo does not want to tinker with the core of the team.
The franchise recently traded Sherfane Rutherford to the Mumbai Indians (MI), which vacates a spot in the batting order. It is understood that the GT management is backing Washington Sundar to take up that role in the batting order. The all-rounder from Tamil Nadu has shown enough promise with the bat whenever he has had an opportunity.
Sai Sudharsan and Shubman Gill have been prolific at the top of the order in the past couple of seasons, and GT will not try to experiment with their batting positions. To add to that, Jos Buttler has been phenomenal in the IPL batting in the top order, and he will be crucial to GT’s chances in IPL 2026.
ALSO READ:
One of the biggest problems that the Titans faced last season was their dependency on their top order. Shubman Gill and Sai Sudharsan were in sublime form, but once they were dismissed, there was no one to take the responsibility to steer the team towards good totals. And this is where the team faced major setbacks last season. Therefore, the Gujarat Titans retention list would be largely discussed to plug the loopholes.
Though they managed to reach the Eliminator last season, the team lost its track somewhere in the middle of the group stage. These are the loopholes that the franchise would want to fill in the Gujarat Titans retention list, along with middle-order woes in case of a top-order collapse.
In six matches last season, Washington Sundar scored 133 runs at a stunning strike-rate of 166.25, which speaks volumes of his stroke play. If the management decides to promote him up the order to No.4, it would surely be a huge boost for the left-handed batter. Washington Sundar is a complete batting package in terms of his technique.
Letting go of Sherfane Rutherford is a decision that many fans would not process. However, his cost, which was INR 2.6 crore, is what could have added to the factors not to have the West Indian on the Gujarat Titans retention list. Having said that, how they fill the holes in the batting order will be an interesting watch.
For more updates, follow CricXtasy on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube.
