3 players who won IPL 2022 with Gujarat Titans but remained unsold in IPL 2023 Auction

The IPL 2022 ended seven months ago. It was the first season in over 10 years where 10 teams competed against each other to win the coveted championship. Debutants Gujarat Titans (GT) emerged as the IPL 2022 champions. They defeated Rajasthan Royals in the summit clash to win their maiden title.

GT surprised many fans with their top-quality performances in IPL 2022. Before the season started, not many members of the cricket universe even gave them a chance to qualify for the playoffs. However, Hardik Pandya's men brought their 'A' game to the table and took the trophy home.

Gujarat Titans unsurprisingly retained the majority of the players who helped win their first trophy in IPL 2022. They let go of a few names as well. Interestingly, three players who won the IPL championship with Gujarat Titans on May 29, 2022 remained unsold at the IPL 2023 Auction which took place on December 23, 2022.

Here is a list of those three former Gujarat Titans players who had a bittersweet 2022.

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#1 Varun Aaron

Veteran Indian fast bowler Varun Aaron was a part of Gujarat Titans' first-ever playing XI in the IPL. He featured in GT's match squad for their debut game against the Lucknow Super Giants. Aaron returned with figures of 2/45 in that fixture, scalping the wickets of Evin Lewis and Ayush Badoni.

The pacer retained his place in the playing XI for their next match against Delhi Capitals, but he got injured after bowling one over. Aaron never returned to the GT playing XI after that game. He watched the remainder of the season from the sidelines.

Gujarat Titans decided against retaining him for the IPL 2023 season. The fast bowler registered himself for the IPL 2023 Auction with a base price of ₹50 lakh. However, not a single team bid for him.

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#2 Gurkeerat Singh Mann

Another capped Indian cricketer to feature on this list is Gurkeerat Singh Mann. Gurkeerat has played some match-winning knocks for the Royal Challengers Bangalore and Punjab Kings in the past, but the Gujarat Titans did not pick him in their playing XI for any game in IPL 2022.

GT's finishers were doing their jobs to perfection, which is why the think tank never made any changes to that department. Gujarat released Gurkeerat before the auction, and the batting all-rounder attracted no bidders at the IPL 2023 Auction.

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#3 Dominic Drakes

Many cricket fans regard Dominic Drakes as the luckiest player in Indian Premier League history. Drakes is yet to play any match in the league but has already won two IPL trophies. He was a part of the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) squad that won the IPL 2021 trophy, and in IPL 2022, he won the title with Gujarat Titans.

Neither CSK nor GT handed him his debut IPL cap and released him for the next season. None of the 10 IPL teams showed interest in the Caribbean all-rounder's services at the IPL 2023 Auction.

Fans on social media later joked that teams should have considered signing Dominic Drakes just because of the luck factor.