"I don't see them lifting the trophy again" - Aakash Chopra on Gujarat Titans' concern heading into IPL 2023

Aakash Chopra doesn't see the Gujarat Titans (GT) retaining the Indian Premier League (IPL) trophy they won last year.

The Titans defeated the Rajasthan Royals (RR) in last season's final to bag the title on their maiden attempt. They will lock horns with the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in the IPL 2023 opener at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on Friday, March 31.

On the "AakashVani" show on JioCinema, Chopra was not too optimistic about the Gujarat Titans' chances of defending their title, elaborating:

"I don't see them lifting the trophy again because it happens very rarely. Teams have been able to do it only twice. This team is good but can it replicate Mumbai and Chennai's record - I am not 100% certain. But they have the team that can reach the playoffs but I won't be terribly surprised if they don't reach the playoffs."

CSK and the Mumbai Indians are the only two sides to have won two consecutive IPL trophies. While MS Dhoni and Co. won back-to-back titles in 2010 and 2011, Rohit Sharma's side achieved the distinction by going all the way in 2019 and 2020.

---

"If this team has a concern, it comes from the batting" - Aakash Chopra on Gujarat Titans' issue

Hardik Pandya was the Gujarat Titans' highest run-scorer in IPL 2022. [P/C: iplt20.com]

Aakash Chopra picked Gujarat Titans' batting as their area of concern, saying:

"If this team has a concern, it comes from the batting. Among the batters, they have Kane Williamson, Shubman Gill, David Miller, Sai Sudarshan, Abhinav Manohar, Hardik Pandya - you can keep him both as batter and bowler, Rahul Tewatia and Vijay Shankar - both of them can be kept in the all-rounder's category."

The former Indian opener feels the Titans do not have too many power-packed batters, observing:

"Let us add the keepers as well - Wriddhiman Saha, Matthew Wade, KS Bharat and Urvil Patel. So a lot of batters are seen but you feel that if there is any concern, it is here only, because they do not have that much strike power."

Chopra concluded by picking David Miller and Rahul Tewatia as the Gujarat Titans' key players in the batting department, stating:

"When Shubman Gill plays, he plays very well, he also has a T20I century to his name, but T20 is still not his strongest suit. Kane Williamson's stars have been on the wane in the T20 format. You might see some gaps in the middle order. A lot of focus will be on David Miller and Rahul Tewatia."

Miller starred with the bat for the Titans in IPL 2022, smashing 481 runs in 16 games at an excellent average of 68.71 and an equally impressive strike rate of 142.72. Tewatia, who amassed 217 runs at a strike rate of 147.61, played a few game-defining knocks last year.