Jeddah, Nov 25 (IANS) Following the recent mega auction for the 2025 IPL season, assistant coach Parthiv Patel spoke about the reasoning behind Gujarat Titans, the 2022 edition champions, choosing to sign four left-arm spinners.

He stated they are eyeing R Sai Kishore and Manav Suthar as their primary spin bowling options to complement Rashid Khan.

GT had also acquired left-arm spin bowling options in Nishant Sindhu and Mahipal Lomror on day two proceedings in the auction, apart from off-spin of Jayant Yadav and Glenn Phillips at their disposal.

“Actually, Manav Suthar and R Sai Kishore were the two left-arm spinners we were looking at having. If you look at Mahipal Lomror and Nishant Sindhu, both of them are very good, and they are also primarily batters who can hold their own against the opposition.

“So we are looking at them as all-rounders who are spinners. With Sai Kishore and Manav Suthar, they are our actual main left-arm spinners. Both of them were part of Gujarat Titans last year, so we're happy that we brought them back,” said Parthiv to in a virtual press conference from Jeddah on Monday.

GT have also invested in a plethora of fast-bowling in Ishant Sharma, Gurnoor Brar, Arshad Khan, Gerald Coetzee, Mohammed Siraj, Kagiso Rabada, Prasidh Krishna and Kulwant Khejroliya, which Parthiv said was a part of their plans. He added that getting Washington Sundar at INR 3.2 crore was a steal buy for GT.

“If you look at our pace attack now, they all are great who can hit the deck. That's exactly what our plan was. So we're quite happy with the outcome. Coming back to Washington, we were expecting him to go much higher than the price which we got. But then we wouldn’t have got that quality off-spinner in this case. So we're quite happy that Washington is in our team.”

He attributed veteran pacer Ishant’s signing to the experience he brings to the table. “Main thing is you don't get lots of experience that easily. Plus, Ishant Sharma bowled well in the IPL last year, and you always want an experienced bowler. He’s bowled so well for India and has been playing since a long time. So, he can be useful for other players as well.”

GT had made a big signing of Jos Buttler, who captained England to 2022 T20 World Cup win and has earned a reputation for being a blistering opener in T20s. “With someone like Jos Buttler, we know what kind of skill he possesses. Plus, we always needed someone at the top of the batting order like him, who also leads his country and is an experienced wicketkeeper.”

“So, we thought that Jos Buttler was the best player who can fill that role. So, he can open the batting, bat at three or four. Plus, he’s had captaincy success, as a T20 World Cup winning captain, so there are a lot of qualities when you look at Jos Buttler.”

Since his return to the England T20I team on tour of West Indies, Buttler didn’t take up wicket keeping duties, owing to returning from a calf injury. If Buttler can’t keep wickets in IPL 2025, GT have services of uncapped keepers Anuj Rawat and Kumar Kushagra.

“We have just picked the squad. We have not put our minds into playing eleven at all. So, we will see once we get together. But it's not a decision which you can just take away right away,” added Parthiv.

He signed off by explaining about picking in-form West Indies all-rounder Sherfane Rutherford for INR 2.6 crore in the first acceleration round. “See, what happened was, that time in the auction, we were building our own team. Those kind of things do happen early in the auction.

“But when you are in the back end of the auction, teams try and fill in their slots which are remaining. That's what we were trying to do. So, it was not a surprise that we were pushed hard. But we wanted a left-handed middle order backer who can fit the right power, and I'm really happy with Rutherford,” concluded Parthiv.