Gujarat Titans had already acquired the services of Hardik Pandya, Rashid Khan, and Shubman Gill ahead of the mega auction. The newbies further strengthened the unit ahead of their maiden IPL outing by shelling out money on players like Jason Roy, Lockie Ferguson, Mohammed Shami, and David Miller at the two-day event this month.
The Titans were in desperate need of a wicketkeeper-batter option and they concealed the flaw by buying Matthew Wade and Wriddhiman Saha during the second day of the mega auction. Wade was bought by the franchise for ₹2.4 crore after a bidding war with Punjab Kings and the Australian has spoken about what he brings to the table.
"I haven't spoken to them exactly about what my role will be, but I would assume anywhere from opening down to seven I'm pretty comfortable with. It doesn't worry me too much. If middle-order comes my way, then it's another opportunity to get some game time in and play that role," said Wade as reported by ESPNcricinfo.
"I know what I can do at the top of the order. I've done it for a long period of time now as well. I'm just really, really happy that I got the opportunity. It's been a long time since I have. I feel blessed in that I've been given the chance to go over there and play IPL again," he added.
{{/usCountry}}"I know what I can do at the top of the order. I've done it for a long period of time now as well. I'm just really, really happy that I got the opportunity. It's been a long time since I have. I feel blessed in that I've been given the chance to go over there and play IPL again," he added.
{{/usCountry}}Gujarat also invested in Vijay Shankar ( ₹1.40 crore) and later bought Dominic Drakes for ₹2.40 crore and Jayant Yadav for ₹1.70 crore. Another major buy for the Gujarat franchise was Alzarri Joseph, who headed to the franchise for a sum of ₹2.40 crore
Wade, who had hit a match-winning blitz against Pakistan in last year's T20 World Cup, also heaped praise on Aaron Finch and David Warner, bracketing both the experienced Aussies as "classy" players.
"Everyone had their say about Davey and he got player of the tournament in the World Cup. Finchy is a class player and I've heard people questioning where he's at. He averages 40 and strikes at 140 for a reason. He's the captain of our team and the questions are always going to come when you get a little bit older and you don't do well in one series.
"They're class players for a reason and the best we've had in T20 cricket ever, and I don't expect any change at the top of the order to be honest. So those two will be there in the World Cup. I'm confident in that and when the big game comes they will nail it," he further said.