"I am not so sure about their continued usage of Tewatia" - Sanjay Bangar on Gujarat Titans ahead of IPL 2026 auction

Former India player Sanjay Bangar has opined that the Gujarat Titans (GT) would want to bolster their middle-order batting at the IPL 2026 auction. He expressed uncertainty about Rahul Tewatia's continued usage as a lower-middle-order batter.

GT released six players, including trading Sherfane Rutherford to the Mumbai Indians (MI), ahead of the IPL 2026 auction. They have an available purse of ₹12.90 crore to buy at most five players, including four overseas, at the mini auction in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday, December 16.

During an interaction on Star Sports, Bangar reckoned that the Gujarat Titans would want to address their middle-order issues at the IPL 2026 auction, expressing slight pessimism about Tewatia's continued utilization.

"I think they will have to look at their middle order because they were heavily dependent on the top three to do the bulk of the scoring. They would want to use Washington Sundar because of his recent exploits and increased confidence in his batting ability," the former India all-rounder said.

"I am not so sure about their continued usage of Tewatia. So Tewatia may well have to miss out, even though Ashish Nehra certainly likes him. Shahrukh (Khan) will continue to get a few more chances, that's my assessment, maybe at No. 5 as well," he added.

Bangar opined that the IPL 2022 champions might look to acquire David Miller at the auction.

"At No. 6, David Miller is back in the auction. David Miller has played there in successful campaigns. So David Miller is a guy that they might target quite well, and having let go of Sherfane Rutherford, David Miller returning to the Gujarat Titans is something I would want to predict," he reasoned.

David Miller was released by the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) ahead of the IPL 2026 auction. The South African middle-order batter played three seasons for the Gujarat Titans from IPL 2022 to IPL 2024.

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"I don't think they would want to have a very, very strong backup for Rabada" - Sanjay Bangar on Gujarat Titans ahead of IPL 2026 auction

Kagiso Rabada played only four games for the Gujarat Titans in IPL 2025. [P.C: Getty]

In the same interaction, Sanjay Bangar was asked whether the Gujarat Titans would look for a backup for Kagiso Rabada at the IPL 2026 auction.

"I don't think, at the moment, they would want to have a very, very strong backup for Rabada. Rabada, for all you know, hasn't been playing a lot of cricket recently. He is not part of the ODI team and may not play a number of T20s also through the lead-up to the World Cup," he said.

The former Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) head coach opined that the Shubman Gill-led side might spend virtually their entire remaining purse on David Miller.

"So David Miller is the critical one. He is a left-hander at the lower end, and he can come in and fit in quite well. They might just end up spending their entire purse for him because, otherwise, all the other players are sorted," Bangar observed.

Rashid Khan, Kagiso Rabada, Jos Buttler and Glenn Phillips are the four overseas players in the Gujarat Titans squad. Ashish Nehra and company might want to acquire a backup for each of those players in the IPL 2026 auction.