Washington Sundar likely to command a price well above ₹3.2 crore in IPL auction; Gujarat Titans reveal steal buy

Gujarat Titans made a significant impact during the Indian Premier League (IPL) mega auction in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, by securing top players like Jos Buttler, Mohammed Siraj, Kagiso Rabada, Prasidh Krishna, Gerald Coetzee, and Washington Sundar. With a strong foundation already in place due to the retention of players like Shubman Gill, Rashid Khan, and Rahul Tewatia, the 2022 champions are poised for success in the upcoming 2025 season. The franchise is optimistic about their chances of claiming the title once again with their formidable squad.

During the mega auction, Gujarat Titans possibly walked away with the steal of the auction as they bought all-rounder Washington Sundar for just INR 3.20 crore. 

Gujarat Titans assistant coach Parthiv Patel has now stated that he thought that the 25-year-old would fetch a lot more money in the auction.

"Coming back to Washington, yes I think you know, we were expecting him to go much higher than the price which we got but you know, you don't get that currency there, so we're quite happy to have Washington in our team," said Parthiv Patel, while replying to a Hindustan Times question during a virtual press conference.

Washington Sundar's stocks have been rising ever since he made the return to India's Test side during the series against New Zealand. He was recently chosen ahead of Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja in the playing XI for the first Test against Australia in Perth, which India eventually won by 295 runs.

In the auction, Gujarat Titans' strategy seemed quite clear that they want to go pace heavy this season, hence it is no surprise that the franchise picked the likes of Kagiso Rabada, Prasidh Krishna and Mohammed Siraj.

Parthiv Patel revealed that it was indeed a conscious decision to go pace heavy this season, and that the management is really happy with the buys they have made.

"We went with our plan to have pace bowlers, if you look at the pace bowling attack we have assembled, all of them are really really great. That was exactly our plan, we are very happy with what we have," said Parthiv Patel while replying to another Hindustan Times question.

During the interaction, Parthiv Patel also explained the rationale behind getting England white-ball captain Jos Buttler on board, saying the management wanted to get a wicketkeeper and a batter who can play as an opener or the No.3 batter.

Gujarat Titans IPL 2025 Squad: Rashid Khan, Shubman Gill, Sai Sudharsan, Rahul Tewatia, Shahrukh Khan, Kagiso Rabada, Jos Buttler, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Nishant Sindhu, Mahipal Lomror, Kumar Kushagra, Anuj Rawat, Manav Suthar, Washington Sundar, Gerald Coetzee, Arshad Khan, Gurnoor Brar, Sherfane Rutherford, Sai Kishore, Ishant Sharma, Jayant Yadav.