Can Washington fill the Rutherford void at GT?
Faf du Plessis and Abhinav Mukund break down GT's squad, the ideal XI and their chances of making it to the playoffs
Where Gujarat Titans finished last year
Gujarat Titans (GT) won nine games to finish third in the league stage before losing to Mumbai Indians in the Eliminator.
What's new in IPL 2026
The make-up of GT's best XII in IPL 2026 seems very similar to last season's, but with one major change in the middle order. Sherfane Rutherford is gone and GT have secured Tom Banton in his place. Banton was in form at No. 4 before the recent T20 World Cup, and also struck a fifty against Scotland at that position. At GT, that is the role he'll be expected to vie for along with Glenn Phillips, who was at GT last season, but was ruled out with injury without playing a game.
Phillips is likely to be the preferred starter as he also offers an offspin option along with his freakish athleticism on the field. Phillips has also shown a marked improvement with the bat in recent times. Since 2025, he averages 41 at a strike rate of 148.66. The corresponding numbers in T20s before that for him read 31.56 and 140.49, respectively.
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GT also splashed INR 7 crore to secure the services of Jason Holder, whose 97 T20 wickets in 2025 are the most by a bowler in a calendar year. In the 2026 T20 World Cup, Holder returned 10 wickets at an economy rate of 8.86, continuing his impressive form. He also scored 141 runs at a strike rate of 174.07.
Jos Buttler and Rashid Khan are strong contenders for two overseas slots. So to fit Holder in, GT might need to bench Kagiso Rabada, or leave their middle order light by leaving Banton or Phillips out.
Apart from new players, GT have also recruited former Australia batter Matthew Hayden as batting coach, and former India wicketkeeper Vijay Dahiya as assistant coach.
Who's out or in doubt?
Sai Sudharsan had sustained a rib fracture in January, but looks set to start the season. They have replaced the injured Prithvi Raj Yarra with Kulwant Khejroliya.**
Likely best XII
1 Shubman Gill (capt), 2 B Sai Sudharsan, 3 Jos Buttler* (wk), 4 Tom Banton*/Glenn Phillips*, 5 Washington Sundar/Kumar Kushagra, 6 M Shahrukh Khan, 7 Rahul Tewatia, 8 Rashid Khan*, 9 Kagiso Rabada*/Jason Holder*, 10 R Sai Kishore, 11 Prasidh Krishna, 12 Mohammed Siraj
*denotes overseas pick
*denotes overseas pick
Big question
Watch out for
Concerns around the batting, which is also GT's strength. Their captain Shubman Gill has slid out of India's T20I side. Buttler, meanwhile, is averaging 20.4 at a strike rate of 135.39 in T20s in 2026. That includes a torrid T20 World Cup for England, in which he registered a highest score of 26 and was dismissed in single figures in five out of eight matches.
But both batters, along with their top-order colleague B Sai Sudharsan, boast strong IPL records.
Last year was the first time that three top-order batters - Gill, Sai Sudharsan and Buttler - from one team scored 500 runs or more each in an IPL season.
Key stats
- Gill, Sai Sudharsan and Buttler combined to score 1967 runs - a whopping 72.54% of GT's total runs in IPL 2025. It was the highest tally for a top three in an IPL season since 2016. Sai Sudharsan also won the Orange Cap for scoring 759 runs in 2025.
- Despite having new-ball bowlers like Rabada and Mohammed Siraj, GT had the third-worst economy rate (9.83) and the third-fewest wickets (19) in the powerplay in 2025. Rabada, though, played just four games last year due to a doping ban. But if he is fit and in form for the full season this year, GT will hope for an improved display in the first six overs.
- Across the two previous seasons, GT were bottom of the table for runs from the middle order (Nos. 4 to 7). However, they had topped the charts in their debut season in 2022, when they won the title, and were ranked fifth in 2023, when they also made the final. It seems like they haven't been able to fill the Hardik-Pandya-shaped hole in their middle order since 2024.
- Gill has the chance to become only the fourth batter to rack up 400-plus runs in seven consecutive seasons after Suresh Raina, Shikhar Dhawan and David Warner (who missed the 2018 season due to suspension). Apart from these three, only Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma have scored 400 runs or more in seven or more seasons.
- Rashid's form has waned in the IPL in the last two seasons. Last season was easily his worst as he failed to take ten wickets for the first time, had an economy rate of over nine an over, and finished with an average of 57.11.
** 1700 GMT, March 25, 2026 Updated with the replacement news