Many people must have been forced to think that ‘You just spilled the cup, friend‘ The moment when Yuzvendra Chahal of Rajasthan Royals made a brilliant effort at short square leg to catch Shubman Gill, sent down by Trent Boult. Chasing a modest target of 131, it was Gujarat Titans’ fourth delivery in the run-chase and the first time the young right-handed opener had to face.
That drop from Chahal, who was specially positioned for the spot created by the intelligent left-arm pacer from New Zealand, was merely accidental in terms of his own. IPL It was not the final but turning point. Because, the Titans have shown a collective team effort in the 16 matches they played in their inaugural IPL season that took them to the summit of IPL 2022, with someone raising their hand and leading the team. It must be said that Chahal did a good job of catching it, diving and getting his hands on the ball but he had no control.
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As it turned out, it was Gill who hit the winning shot, another Royals left-arm fast bowler, Obed McCoy, pulled the ball over deep backward square leg, sending the ball to a section of the 1,04,859 crowd, who watched. had gathered for the summit Narendra Modi Stadium in Motera, Ahmedabad on Sunday night. Gill remained unbeaten on 45, giving no more chances and playing a sheet anchor with his captain Hardik Pandya with a stand of 63 and a 47 for the fourth wicket with David Miller (32*).
Titans made the IPL final one-sided. There were high expectations from the top two teams that finished at No. 1 and 2 at the end of the league stage. The Titans’ seven-wicket win in the final – coincidentally three of the four playoffs included in the final, ended in the same seven-wicket victory – after restricting the Royals to just 130 for nine, made it an entirely one-sided affair. . The second lowest score in an IPL final was not going to win the Royals a match, especially against a team that has successfully chased the maximum number of times.
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The pitch for the final was the same as that used for the second qualifier which the Royals won by seven wickets against Royal Challengers Bangalore on Friday night. There was good bounce on the pitch, however Royals captain Sanju Samson admitted that the pitch was sticky and did not want to bat due to excessive wear and tear. The famous Krishna got some extra bounce in the second match in a row, while the spinners didn’t get much buy – the slower bowlers got only six out of 23 wickets in the two matches played at the venue.
The Titans gave a tough fight to the Royals in the final. He didn’t let them run away with a mammoth Powerplay score, in which he was only 44, and was brilliant in the middle overs, costing him only 50 for four in nine overs from No 7 to 15, captain Hardik Pandya and Leg-spinner Rashid Khan was key to stopping the Royals, the captain striking thrice, all dangerous batsmen and match winners in his own right – Sanju Samson, Orange Cap winners Jos Buttler and Shimron Hetmyer – for three for 17 in a four overs His best bowling figures in IPL till date. Khan proved why he is one of the best T20 bowlers in the world today. He did not concede easy runs, hitting only one boundary in his four overs, and picked Devdutt Padikkal, a struggling Royals left-hander, whose batting position in the tournament had initially moved from No. 4 to No. 3 and then to No. 4. To start the innings before going back.
Khan conceded only 18 runs while Pandya and he combined bowled 23 dot balls, almost four overs. It was there that the Titans had registered a half victory in the final.
stable batting order
Unlike some other teams in the IPL, Titans had a stable batting line-up. Shubman Gill initially started with Matthew Wade but later with Wriddhiman Saha, who was brought into the team after five matches. Wade was pushed to No. 3 while skipper Pandya was named No. 4, a situation where the 28-year-old took the responsibility of keeping his team safe and sought to curb his attacking instincts.
Giving his players the freedom to excel in their roles, he led the team throughout the tournament, with Pandya notably finishing at No. To score 487 runs – the highest for Titans – at 44.27 with four fifties and to double as a medium-pacer and to bowl four overs in five matches, while in some others he took only eight wickets. Bowled after finishing with – spoke of the right all-round performance and leading from the front.
Pandya has tasted the IPL title four times with Mumbai Indians since his first season in 2015. But, when it came to the finals, he scored 0 (2015), 10 (2017), 16 (2019) and 3 (2020) for MI, although his role was to hit in the final overs. In his fifth IPL final, he led the example with a true all-rounder performance (34 to go with his three wickets, he was named man of the match).
Without a doubt, Pandya carried the responsibility as a captain. Making him more mature, transforming into a better cricketer and a person, and his IPL performances have helped him make a comeback in the Indian squad for the upcoming T20I series against South Africa after he suffered a back injury. was put out. T20 World Cup last year.
Killer Miller – The Finisher
The No. 5 spot was held by David Miller, who has taken his game up a few notches with his finisher role. Not only this, in eight successful chases for the Titans, Miller remained unbeaten till the end in six of them. Needless to say, South Africa topped the batting average for their team with 68.72 after scoring 481 runs in 16 innings with nine not out and 94 not out against Chennai Super Kings in Pune.
Titans have won eight matches chasing the target in this IPL. Miller’s tally in these run chases was 301 at an average of 150.50. It was only ideal that Miller was there till the end when the Titans sealed their final victory with an unbeaten 32 on Sunday.
Along with Miller, the Titans had Rahul Tewatia and Rashid Khan to do the finishing acts, and they have delivered in crunch situations more often than not. Who can forget Rashid Khan, who destroyed Chennai Super Kings in Pune in the company of Miller or Tewatia, who smashed two successive sixes in the last two balls of the match against Punjab Kings at the Brabourne Stadium, when Titans needed just 12 runs to win. Odeon Smith was the unlucky bowler?
express pace battery
Titans’ bowling was in capable hands. He has a good mix of experience and youth, pace and spin. Mohammed Shami regularly provided early breakthroughs that he took 11 of his 20 wickets in the power play. He found good support with the new ball at the other end from left-hander Yash Dayal, while Khan leads the spin department, ending with 19 as he does. New Zealander Lockie Ferguson made some express deliveries while left-arm spinner Sai Kishore showed. Might be a force to be reckoned with when given more opportunities.
IPL debutants Abhinav Manohar, who played some useful knocks in the early stages of the tournament in the lower middle order, and Sai Sudarshan, who at No. 3 showed glimpses of what he is capable of.
Not many expected the Titans to go all the way to lift the trophy and what Rajasthan Royals did in 2008 would win the IPL title in their first IPL season. But the Titans believed in themselves, a collective effort through the tournament that helped them reach the summit, becoming the seventh team out of 15 to have participated in the league in 15 editions.
Pandya joined illustrious captains like Rohit Sharma (Mumbai Indians), Mahendra Singh Dhoni (Chennai Super Kings). Gautam Gambhir (Kolkata Knight Riders), the late Shane Warne (Rajasthan Royals), Adam Gilchrist (Deccan Chargers) and David Warne (Sunrisers Hyderabad) took their side to an IPL victory.
Leading his team to IPL victories will change Pandya’s approach to cricket when it comes to international cricket. He will play with more responsibility, think more about his game and his teammates, bat with more responsibility and see that his team is in good shape. And when it comes to bowling, and if his back allows him, he can be a world-class all-rounder that the Indian team is still on the lookout for, something he should have been in a long time ago, but with injuries. Because of this his progress slowed down.
Pandya knows what it means to defend an IPL title. His experience with MI in the past, and the guidance of a competent support staff that includes head coach Ashish Nehra and consultant/batting coach Gary Kirsten, will come in handy when the Titans return to IPL action next year.
Till then, the Titans deserve all the accolades that come their way for winning the tournament.
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