IPL 2023: Rating teams based on their batting depth

1. Gujarat Titans

The team which surprised all of us the most when they came in IPL 2022 was arguably Gujarat Giants. Gujarat managed to not only qualify for the playoffs but also won the title in their maiden season. Such was the effectiveness of the GT squad that the management didn’t do anything beyond retaining the core of their team. Star players of Gujarat's last campaign Shubman Gill, Hardik Pandya, Rashid Khan and David Miller were all retained ahead of the 2023 IPL Auction. 

If we take a look at the squad of Gujarat Titans we see they have a fixed spot for the core players of the group except for David Miller who will miss a few games initially. Shubhman Gill will open the batting along with Wriddhiman Saha who was stupendous in the last season while opening for Titans. He gives those explosive starts to the team and enables Gill to anchor and move the game at a steady pace. Coming in at 3 for the Titans could be Kane Williamson who would be a perfect fit for the spot. 

The middle order could have players like KS Bharat, Hardik Pandya and David Miller; as it will provide a balance between the power-hitting options and the slow-starters who could perfectly complement each other. Each one of them has the capability to slow down the game if it demands and then show their power game in the death overs. If we look at the lower middle order, Gujarat have players like Rahul Tewatia and Odean Smith who could give depth to the batting line-up and could also chip in with a few overs at any stage of the game. Overall, if we were to create a proper top-seven for this team, we would have plenty of options to choose from, which makes the Gujarat Titans batting line-up arguably the best in the IPL 2023. On a scale of 1-10, this batting unit, based on the parameters, can be given 8.5 / 10.