Gujarat Titans have roped in South Africa’s emerging batting sensation Connor Esterhuizen as the injury replacement for Tom Banton. Banton has been ruled out of the entire IPL 2026 season owing to a finger injury. Titans had bought Banton for INR 2 crore at the IPL 2026 mini-auction in Abu Dhabi.
Esterhuizen, 24, made his T20I debut in the recently concluded five-match T20I series against New Zealand and earned the Player of the Series award for finishing as the leading run-getter and guiding his team to a 3-2 finish. Esterhuizen played all five and batted in all of them to amass 200 runs at an astounding average of 50.00 and at a strike rate of 145.98, including two fifties and a highest score of 75. He also struck 16 fours and 13 sixes and was adjudged the Player of the Match (POTM) in two games.
Even at such a young age, Esterhuizen has a fair amount of experience playing in global T20 events. He has represented Pretoria Capitals and MI Cape Town in the SA20. He has aggregated 385 runs in 23 matches at an average of 21.38 and a strike rate of 113.90 in the SA20. He has also had a taste of the ILT20 in the UAE, when he represented Abu Dhabi Knight Riders (ADKR) in four games during the 2022/23 season. His overall T20 record paints a very promising picture.
In 44 T20s, Esterhuizen has racked up 926 runs at an average of 28.93 and a strike rate of 129.87 with the help of five half-centuries. He has struck 74 boundaries and 45 sixes in his young T20 career.
Titans suffer major blow in form of injury to Banton
Meanwhile, Banton is a major loss for Titans as he was fairly impressive for England during their ICC Men’s T20 World Cup campaign. Playing in conditions foreign to him, Banton scored 155 runs in eight games at an average of 22.14 and a strike rate of 137.16, including a fifty and a highest score of 63*.Banton, who has accumulated more than 5000 runs at a strike rate of 142.89 in the shortest format, was expected to bolster Titans’ middle-order. His absence comes across as a major blow for the Shubman Gill-led side.
