Meet Sandeep Raju, the unsung hero behind Gujarat Titans' immense IPL success
May 28, 2023
Ahmedabad (Gujarat) [India], May 28 : Gujarat Titans has dominated the Indian Premier League (IPL) since their debut season last year. After clinching the title in their first season, the franchise is set to play its second successive final against Chennai Super Kings (CSK) at the Narendra Modi Stadium here on Sunday.
The team is full of some world-class talents like skipper Hardik Pandya, up-and-coming star Shubman Gill, Afghanistan T20 sensation Rashid Khan, Indian pace veteran Mohammed Shami, the 'Finisher' from South Africa David Miller among others.
However, there is one unsung hero behind the team's success on-field. He is Sandeep Raju, the talent scout and performance analyst of the team.
"I am Sandeep Raju. I am the talent scout and performance analyst at Gujarat Titans. I come from the city of Chennai. I basically help the team with performance analytics. I help them look at data and come up with performance and strategies and I also help with recruiting talent," said Sandeep in a video posted by GT.
Raju said that key skill of his job is to understand the team's requirements. He also said that things are very much relaxed in GT because everyone from players to support staff know their role well.
"The key skill is to understand what the team requirements are and I also keep an eye on talent available in the country and the world. Things are pretty relaxed in GT. My experience has been fantastic. The role definition is clear in GT, It looks like we have a good team atmosphere and it is because all players and support staff are clear about their roles," said Raju.
The performance analyst said that working with GT feels like a family.
"I have worked with most people here before, the player and support staff. So it is like a family," said Raju.
Hardik Pandya-led GT will be looking forward to defending the title that they had bagged in their debut season back in 2022. CSK will be hoping to clinch their fifth title and perhaps give a memorable farewell to skipper MS Dhoni, as this could be his last season with the Yellow franchise as speculated by many fans since the start of the tournament.
Gujarat Titans Squad: Wriddhiman Saha(w), Shubman Gill, Sai Sudharsan, Hardik Pandya(c), Vijay Shankar, David Miller, Rahul Tewatia, Rashid Khan, Mohit Sharma, Noor Ahmad, Mohammed Shami, Joshua Little, Srikar Bharat, Shivam Mavi, Odean Smith, Ravisrinivasan Sai Kishore, Pradeep Sangwan, Matthew Wade, Jayant Yadav, Dasun Shanaka, Abhinav Manohar, Alzarri Joseph, Darshan Nalkande, Urvil Patel, Yash Dayal
Chennai Super Kings Squad: Ruturaj Gaikwad, Devon Conway, Shivam Dube, Ajinkya Rahane, Ambati Rayudu, MS Dhoni(w/c), Ravindra Jadeja, Moeen Ali, Deepak Chahar, Tushar Deshpande, Maheesh Theekshana, Matheesha Pathirana, Mitchell Santner, Subhranshu Senapati, Shaik Rasheed, Akash Singh, Ben Stokes, Dwaine Pretorius, Sisanda Magala, Ajay Jadav Mandal, Prashant Solanki, Simarjeet Singh, RS Hangargekar, Bhagath Varma, Nishant Sindhu.
