‘Destroyed but not defeated’: Gujarat Titans is the new dominant force of IPL

Despite a loss against the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in the Indian Premier League 2023 final on Monday, being favourites on their home turf, Gujarat Titans won the hearts of several cricket fans. The Titans put up a tough fight against the five-time champions and ensured a last-ball deciding match.

Being a young team, only two years into the game, the Gujarat Titans have turned favourites in the league.

The new powerhouse of the IPL took the tournament by storm with their performances since their arrival. They have been the most consistent side so far in the last two seasons. They just seem to do their stuff and it’s clearly visible they mean business.

They don’t have a huge fan following on social media like the Royal Challengers Bangalore or a celebrity owner like Kolkata Knight Riders. Neither do they have a squad and legacy like CSK or Mumbai Indians; but what they do have is a strong management and scouting system.

Don’t be amused at all if Gujarat Titans soon become one of the most successful teams of IPL in the near future.

Ownership & Management

When it comes to their ownership, the second-most costly club in the IPL, which is competing in its second consecutive final and attempting to defend a crowd they won despite being written off in 2022, doesn’t have much of a name recognition.

That’s because the owners, the private equity firm CVC Capitals, prefer to remain anonymous and leave decision-making to their management team, which is overseen by Vikram Solanki and Ashish Nehra.

Position Name

COO Arvinder Singh
Team manager Satyajit Parab
Director of Cricket Vikram Solanki
Head coach Ashish Nehra
Batting coach and mentor Gary Kirsten
Assistant coach Naeem Amin
Assistant coach Narender Negi
Assistant coach Mithun Manhas
Spin bowling coach and scout Aashish Kapoor
Head physiotherapist Rohit Sawalkar

History

One of the two new teams introduced before the 2022 season was Gujarat Titans. The franchise was won by CVC Capital Partners for Rs 5625 crore (about USD 750 million). Prior to the 2022 auction, they selected Shubman Gill, Rashid Khan, and Hardik Pandya.

Captaincy was given to Pandya. Gary Kirsten, India’s coach during the 2011 World Cup, was named mentor and batting coach, Vikram Solanki was named director of cricket, and Ashish Nehra was named head coach.

Season 2022

Champions in 2022

Even though it was only their debut year, Gujarat Titans completely dominated the IPL last season. After Rajasthan Royals, the Titans are the only other team to win the championship in their inaugural year.

They won ten of their first 14 games, finishing first in the league stage. They then overcame Rajasthan Royals in Qualifier 1 to go to the final, where they again comprehensively defeated Royals in front of 104,859 fans.

3 Musketeers

Hardik Pandya

Pandya had only ever played for the Mumbai Indians since his IPL debut in 2015, a team for which he amassed 1476 runs and 42 wickets. He was purchased by Gujarat Titans for Rs 15 crore (about USD 1.9 million), and in his debut season with them, he scored 487 runs at a strike rate of over 130, took eight wickets, and helped the team win the championship.

Rashid Khan

He improved his reputation as a multi-utility player during his debut season with Titans, taking 19 wickets, the second-most for them, in addition to scoring critical runs at a strike rate of over 200 to help finish games.

David Miller

David Miller had his finest IPL season to date, scoring 481 runs at a strike rate of 142.72 and an average of over 68, showcasing his finishing prowess. He had the team’s support and triumphed in games in unlikely circumstances.

Season 2023

They demonstrated that last year was not an anomaly. With their bowling being effective during all phases of an opposing inning and all of their hitters stepping up when necessary, they have perhaps looked like the most balanced squad.

However, this smooth route encountered its first significant hiccup when GT was soundly defeated by CSK in the first qualifier.

Rarely in their brief history have Hardik Pandya’s team fallen so far behind in a game as they did against CSK at the Chepauk.

Along with the three musketeers from the 2022 season, Gujarat Titans added three more this year and their squad right now is more dangerous than ever.

The three musketeers have turned into six devils and Gujarat Titans are now the strongest side in IPL on paper.

Shubman Gill

The young prodigy has turned into a prolific run scorer this season and is in terrific form scoring three centuries in the last four innings. In fact Gill is single-handedly winning matches and was the only one standing between CSK and their 5th IPL title. Despite being dropped earlier on, having scored 3 runs, Gill was picked by Jadeja, who played match winner for CSK on Monday.

Few would have predicted that he would score 33 sixes, which is the second-most in the competition.

Gill was the star batter in the season and was given the orange cap for his 890 runs in 17 matches.

Mohammad Shami

Mohammad Shami took 28 wickets, the most from any bowler this season and received the purple cap for his performance.

Shami took 17 wickets this season in the powerplay. He surpassed Trent Boult’s feat of 16 wickets in the 2020 edition. Here is the complete list.

• 17 – Mohammed Shami (2023)
• 16 – Trent Boult (2020)
• 16 – Mitchell Johnson (2013)
• 15 – Deepak Chahar (2019)
• 15 – Mohit Sharma (2013)
• 14 – Dhawal Kulkarni (2016)

Noor Ahmad

Noor Ahmad, a left-arm spinner, was selected by the Gujarat Titans at the IPL 2022 Mega Auction for his base price of INR 30 lakhs. This year, it is getting dividends as this rookie spinner is slowly turning out to be a powerful weapon in the middle overs. This season, he took 14 wickets, with an average of 25.14, conceding nearly 7.97 runs per over with a best individual figure of 3/37.

Fandom of Gujarat

They list the names of their favourite Titans players in a barrage. Pandya, Hardik. Khan, Rashid. Shubman Gill. David Miller. Abdul Shami. They claim it’s impossible to choose just one, although Gill and Hardik appeared to be on par in terms of popularity.

Long before Gill caused mayhem in the second Qualifier, the player who scored three hundred in the IPL in the last four games. Many people think this batter is a once-in-a-generation talent. You may say with confidence that Ahmedabad brought their Gill-cams to the stadium.

Now, they have already built a loyal fanbase courtesy of the cricket they showcased in the last two seasons. They have nurtured a young talent who has now become a brand in world cricket — “Shubman Gill”. They have mentored a super leader who is all set to captain India — “Hardik Pandya”.

The largest stadium in the world could well prove to be the support they needed to become the ultimate powerhouse in the biggest cricket league of the world.

Leader Hardik

Hardik is an exact replica of Dhoni, some may say, in terms of his outlook towards games. That is sufficient justification for supporting a Dhoni-like individual. Hardik is from Baroda, and there are some notable differences in how he has conquered a different city. Hardik has already made enough comments about the role Dhoni played in transforming him from a “crazy guy” to a well-rounded “cricket nerd” whose perspective on the game is far deeper than it initially appears.