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Gujarat Titans participated in their maiden Indian Premier League auction on February 12-13, building a 23-member squad for the 2022 edition of the tournament.
The side had already signed all-rounder Hardik Pandya, Rashid Khan, and Shubman Gill ahead of the auction and picked up players like Jason Roy, Lockie Ferguson, Mohammed Shami, and David Miller among others in the mega auction.
Titans' head coach Ashish Nehra opened up on his team composition and reviewed his side's performance in the mega auction, insisting that they roped in the players they wanted but also had to let go of some of the stars who were among their targets.
“Jason Roy and Lockie Ferguson were always part of the plans. Liam Livingstone (was also part of the plan), we went till 10 crores but that's the IPL for you. People will outbid you and you will outbid them,” Nehra told Cricbuzz. Livingstone was bought by the Punjab Kings for ₹11.50 crore.
Nehra also emphasised that it is difficult to predict price dynamics in the IPL auction, citing the example of West Indies' Nicholas Pooran who was bought by the Sunrisers Hyderabad for ₹10.75 crore. Replying to Simon Doull's question on why the Titans moved late for wicketkeepers, Nehra said, “If you see other wicketkeepers (like) Nicholas Pooran, maybe he has not scored runs, but look what kind of price he got. Jonny Bairstow, Quinton de Kock.. so you have to choose from those options.”
“Matthew Wade, we had to pay a little extra ( ₹2.40 crore) but in the end, we got him, as well as one Indian wicketkeeper in Saha. If you talk about Indian wicketkeepers, he is one of the best ones going around.”
Titans bought both Wade and Saha during the second day of the mega auction in Bengaluru.