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Cricket News: 3 reasons why Gujarat Titans have had a brilliant IPL 2022 campaign | Why have Gujarat Titans performed so well?
The journey of the Gujarat Titans in the IPL 2022 has been nothing short of exceptional. The Hardik Pandya-led side currently occupies the top position in the points table winning eight of their first nine encounters.
After the completion of the mega auction, many cricket pundits had written off the Titans as their team didn’t seem balanced on paper. Jason Roy pulled out of the tournament before it started. There were doubts over Hardik Pandya’s fitness, and David Miller is no longer the same player he once used to be. So, it was natural for all the experts to rate the Titans lower than their counterparts.
However, they have managed to silence their critics in a grand style by playing some fabulous cricket. Here’s an attempt to find the reasons behind GT’s success in this IPL.
1. Captain Hardik leading from the front
The biggest factor that has contributed to GT’s success is the renaissance of Hardik Pandya as a world-class allrounder. He was struggling badly with both form as well as fitness since 2020, but we have seen a different Hardik altogether in IPL 2022. The table drawn below shows how improved a batsman Hardik has been in this season as compared to the previous one.
| Innings | Runs | Average | Strike rate | |
| IPL 2021 | 11 | 127 | 14.11 | 113.39 |
| IPL 2022 | 8 | 308 | 51.33 | 135.68 |
(Hardik’s batting performance in IPL 2021 and 2022)
Apart from his batting, Hardik’s bowling has been one of the biggest positives for the Titans. He didn’t bowl a single delivery in the last two IPL seasons owing to injury issues, but he was seen consistently clocking the 140kph-mark this season. Hardik has picked four wickets at an economy of 7.57 in IPL 2022, his best ever since his IPL debut. His numbers with the ball in powerplay have been extraordinary, as presented in the table below.
| Balls bowled | Runs conceded | Wickets taken | BPB | Dot percentage |
| 36 | 29 | 2 | 9 | 58.33 |
Added to his brilliant all-round performance, Hardik has been accurate with his on-field calls. His leadership skills have been highly praised by the experts.
2. Improved performance by Shami in powerplay
Mohammed Shami has been used as a powerplay bowler in the majority of his IPL career. Although he kept it tight in the powerplay while playing for the Punjab Kings, his wicket-taking ability was a matter of concern for the side.
However, Shami has been a much-improved powerplay bowler this time as he is getting early wickets for the Titans with the new ball. The stats below clearly indicate a significant development in Shami’s wicket taking ability in the powerplay.
| Overs | Runs | Wickets | Average | Strike rate | Economy | Dot percentage | |
| For PBKS | 85 | 597 | 14 | 42.64 | 36.42 | 7.02 | 53.52 |
| For GT | 23 | 155 | 8 | 19.37 | 17.25 | 6.74 | 58.33 |
His economy and dot ball-percentage has also improved, which signifies that he has been able to prevent the opposition from getting a flying start.
3. The heroics of David Miller and Rahul Tewatia
Both David Miller and Rahul Tewatia have been magnificent for the Titans as they have guided the side to perfection while chasing challenging totals. Miller has managed to roll the clock back with his solid hitting, as evident from the stats below.
| Inns | Runs | Average | Strike rate | |
| From IPL 2017-2021 | 26 | 494 | 24.7 | 117.33 |
| In IPL 2022 | 9 | 276 | 69 | 150.82 |
On the other hand, Tewatia has showcased his extraordinary finishing skills on multiple occasions. Overall, the dynamic southpaw averages 44.75 and has struck at a tremendous rate of 161.26 this season. He has scored 142 of his total 179 runs at a glorious strike rate of 163.2 while chasing.
Further, he has amassed 150 runs facing just 72 balls in the slog overs at an unbelievable strike rate of 208.3. The allrounder has taken just three balls to hit a boundary at the death and has a dot ball-percentage of just 25 in this phase. These extraordinary numbers clearly show how crucial a player he has been for the Titans in this season.
Apart from these factors, some exceptional individual performances such as Shubman Gill’s consecutive 80-plus scores against DC and PBKS, Wriddhiman Saha’s impactful knock of 68 versus SRH and Rashid Khan’s blistering cameos of 40(21) and 31(11), respectively, against CSK and SRH have helped GT immensely to pull off some iconic victories.
Can the Titans go all the way and clinch the title in their very first season? Have your say.
Written by Debashish Sarangi. Follow Debashish on Twitter today
