Gujarat Titans have put a lot of faith in Jason Holder: Irfan Pathan

Former Indian all-rounder and commentator Irfan Pathan has stated that the Gujarat Titans (GT) have shown immense faith in West Indies' bowling all-rounder Jason Holder, adding that his improved six-hitting ability and his new-ball bowling skills will help the side in the forthcoming IPL 2026 season.

Notably, Holder was earlier part of the IPL with the Chennai Super Kings, Sunrisers Hyderabad, Kolkata Knight Riders, Lucknow Super Giants, and Rajasthan Royals. In the most recent IPL 2026 mini-auction, Holder was roped in by the Titans for a whopping price of INR 7 Crore.

"Their bet on Jason Holder is interesting. He is an amazing bowler with the new ball, but his batting has improved, especially his six-hitting abilities. GT has put a lot of faith in that. Their main strength is their top three batters: Shubman Gill, Sai Sudharsan, and Jos Buttler,” Pathan told on JioHotstar.

"How they use Washington Sundar will be important, as his batting has gotten better, too. The role of Glenn Phillips, or whoever plays at number four or five, will also be very big," he added.

On the other hand, former Indian opener and commentator Abhinav Mukund revealed the reason behind the Titans' preferring left-arm pacers and all-rounders like Holder in their IPL 2026 squad.

"Gujarat Titans love fast bowlers, especially left-arm pacers like Prithviraj Yarra and Luke Wood. Ashok Sharma had a great Syed Mushtaq Ali season. But Jason Holder is there because they need someone to bat and finish innings at number six or seven, and bowl a couple of overs. They want someone to finish at the death. The team is so strong at the top that they felt they needed this. Last year, GT often did not play all four overseas players,” Mukund said.

"So maybe if Glenn Phillips is fit, he plays in the middle order, and Jason Holder finishes. Overall, they still look like a brilliant side. They have the best young Indian talent. I don't know who will control them on the bench. Good luck to Parthiv Patel and Ashish Nehra," he concluded.

Gujarat Titans (GT) full squad for IPL 2026

Anuj Rawat, Glenn Phillips*, Gurnoor Singh Brar, Ishant Sharma, Jayant Yadav, Jos Buttler*, Kagiso Rabada*, Kumar Kushagra, Manav Suthar, Mohammad Siraj, Mohd. Arshad Khan, Nishant Sindhu, Prasidh Krishna, R. Sai Kishore, Rahul Tewatia, Rashid Khan*, Sai Sudharsan, Shahrukh Khan, Shubman Gill, Washington Sundar, Jason Holder*, Tom Banton*, Ashok Sharma, Luke Wood*, Prithviraj Yarra.

*denotes overseas player.

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