Hardik Pandya Leads Debutants Gujarat Titans To IPL 2022 Title

Ahmedabad: Debutants Gujarat Titans, who led the IPL 2022 standings from the beginning, signed off in some style by lifting the prestigious trophy at the gigantic Narendra Modi Stadium at Motera here on Sunday night.

Captained astutely by Hardik Pandya, Gujarat Titans rode the high-decibel energy of a one-lakh home crowd to beat Rajasthan Royals by 7 wickets in the final.

Rajasthan Royals’ decision to bat first after skipper Sanju Samson won the toss backfired badly as the Gujarat Titans attack restricted the men in pink to 130 for 9 in 20 overs. Pandya was outstanding with the ball, bagging 3/17 in 4 overs. The skipper was backed up brilliantly by Mohammad Shami, Lockie Ferguson, Rashid Khan, Yash Dayal and Sai Kishore.

Gujarat got early jolts as Prasidh Krishna and Trent Boult sent back Wriddhiman Saha and Mathew Wade with just 23 runs on the board.

But Shubman Gill and Pandya put their heads down to construct a 63-run partnership which set up the platform for a successful chase.

Pandya fell for 34, but Gill (45 not out) and David Miller (32 not out) took Gujarat across the line with plenty to spare. Gujarat, who topped the league stage with 20 points, thus finished the marathon league with 12 wins out of 16 matches.

Rajasthan’s only consolation was Jos Buttler finishing with the maximum 863 runs in the season – second only to Virat Kohli’s tally of 973 in 2016.

Scores: Rajasthan Royals 130/9 in 20 overs. Gujarat Titans 133/3 in 18.1 overs

Result: Gujarat Titans won by 7 wickets.

Champions: Gujarat Titans.