With Rajasthan Royals (RR) releasing the England keeper-batter Jos Buttler , GT managed to acquire his services for Rs 15.75 crore in IPL 2025 auction. Gujarat Titans have possibly amassed their strongest-ever opening unit ahead of IPL 2025 after finding a perfect opening partner for Shubman Gill in the form of Jos Buttler. Gujarat Titans (GT) have possibly amassed their strongest ever opening unit ahead of IPL 2025. The franchise, led by skipper Shubman Gill, found a perfect opening partner for the captain in the form of Jos Buttler.
The duo of Shubman Gill and Jos Buttler could very well go on to become a nightmare for the rest of the IPL teams, given their ability to fire at will.
Jos Buttler sold to Gujarat Titans at whopping 15.75 crores in IPL mega auction
Jos Buttler is one of the 38 England-qualified players in the auction pool. The others include the likes of Harry Brook, Phil Salt, Jofra Archer, Jacob Bethell, Moeen Ali, Adil Rashid and Liam Livingstone.
Shubman Gill, Jos Buttler opening combo to terrorize other teams in IPL 2025
Jos Buttler has aced his role as opener in the franchises that he has been associated with the past in IPL and boasts of seven hundreds to his name. Shubman Gill is no stranger to the opening role in Indian Premier League after having served as GT’s first-choice opener for over three seasons now. Together, the duo boast of over 6700 runs in 210 matches played, combined. Barring SRH and CSK, no other team has a terrorizing combination of openers like GT do.
Incidentally, Jos Buttler and Shubman Gill were the winners of the Orange Cap in 2022 and 2023 respectively. Despite having a low purse of Rs 41 crore, RR went for Buttler as much as they could. They quit the bidding at Rs 9.50 crore before the Punjab Kings (PBKS) scooped in. Ultimately, he went to GT for Rs 15.75 crore.
Former Indian cricketer now commentator Aakash Chopra shares his opinion on Gujarat Titans opening pair of Shubman Gill and Jos Buttler for IPL 2025.
Aakash Chopra shares his opinion on Gujarat Titans opening pair of Shubman Gill and Jos Buttler for IPL 2025
Aakash Chopra has opined that the Gujarat Titans (GT) had a phenomenal IPL 2025 auction. He picked Jos Buttler as one of their great buys, highlighting that the England wicketkeeper-batter will brilliantly complement Shubman Gill at the top of the order.
The Titans retained Rashid Khan (₹18 crore), Sai Sudarshan (₹8.50 crore), Rahul Tewatia (₹4 crore), and Shahrukh Khan (₹4 crore) apart from Gill (₹16.50 crore) before the auction. They spent ₹68.85 crore to buy 20 more players at the auction, with Buttler (₹15.75 crore) being their most expensive pick.
In a video shared on his YouTube channel ‘Aakash Chopra’, the former India opener pointed out that the Gujarat Titans’ acquisition of Buttler filled the wicketkeeper-batter’s vacancy at the top of their order.
“Seeing this auction, you feel ‘Wow’. They bought a very expensive player, that was Jos Buttler, but they needed a keeper-opener. They managed with Wriddhiman Saha for a long time, they kept Matthew Wade in their team, and Rahmanullah Gurbaz also used to be a part of this team, but they didn’t have a keeper-batter of Jos Buttler’s quality,” he said .
“Buttler came in the first round and they went all the way and kept him in their team. Imagine Jos Buttler and Shubman Gill, how incredibly they will complement each other, and the brain – he is a T20 World Cup-winning captain, a great person, and an excellent strategist,” Chopra added.
Chopra noted that the Titans also bought Kagiso Rabada (₹10.75 crore) and Mohammed Siraj (₹12.25 crore) in the initial rounds. He added that the duo’s acquisition bolstered their bowling which seemed slightly weak in IPL 2024 in Mohammed Shami’s absence.
Aakash Chopra on Gujarat Titans’ probable XII
Reflecting on the Gujarat Titans’ probable XII, Aakash Chopra noted that Sai Sudarshan and Shahrukh Khan can potentially follow Shubman Gill and Jos Buttler in the batting order.
“Firstly, they have 25 players. So they have amazing backups. The XII is looking something like this – Jos Buttler with Shubman Gill, and Sai Sudarshan can open or come at No. 3. Since they retained Shahrukh Khan, we can assume he might play at No. 4 but he can go to No. 5 as well,” he said in the same video.
The cricketer-turned-commentator added that either Sherfane Rutherford or Glenn Phillips can complete their top six along with Rahul Tewatia.
“They have two players in Sherfane Rutherford and Glenn Phillips for the one available slot that can be given to an overseas middle-order striker. It’s okay if they didn’t get David Miller, they have got an equally competent backup. Then they had retained Rahul Tewatia. So he is also there,” Chopra observed.
Chopra pointed out that the Titans will have batting depth despite playing three frontline spinners and as many pacers.
“They have Rashid Khan, Washington Sundar, whose name featured among the steal buys in the auction, and then Sai Kishore. I have counted batting till No. 9. After that, Kagiso Rabada, Prasidh Krishna and Mohammed Siraj. The first XII is looking great,” he noted.
Aakash Chopra’s probable Gujarat Titans’ XII: Shubman Gill, Jos Buttler, Sai Sudarshan, Shahrukh Khan, Sherfane Rutherford/Glenn Phillips, Rahul Tewatia, Rashid Khan, Washington Sundar, Sai Kishore, Kagiso Rabada, Prasidh Krishna, Mohammed Siraj