So close, yet so far. That was the story of Gujarat Titans (GT) in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 season that concluded in Ahmedabad in the early hours of Tuesday.
Hardik Pandya-led GT almost had all bases covered before the season, and their IPL campaign inspite of the five-wicket loss to Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in the final, was a near-perfect one.
Only that, in the final hurdle of the title clash, GT faltered as Ravindra Jadeja showcased his brilliance in front of a packed Narendra Modi Stadium that was painted yellow.
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GT topped the league stage with 20 points, losing just four in 14 matches, but went onto lose to CSK twice in the playoffs (Once in Qualifier 1 and once in final)
So, what went right for GT, and where did they miss their opportunities?
Shubman Gill, remember the name!
He’s just 23-years-old but Shubman Gill is already making ways in international cricket. And in the IPL, it was as if he had taken his batting to the next level. Gill was arguably the most prolific batter in the IPL’s 16th edition. He maintained consistency like no other batter, so much so that he amassed 890 runs from just 17 matches at a strike-rate of 157.80.
Gill amassed three centuries this season, and kept delivering the runs when it mattered most to the team.
GT also gave rise to 21-year-old youngster Sai Sudharsan. Sai Sudharsan was part of GT’s title-winning side in 2022, but made more of an impact this season, including a knock of 96 off 47 in the final.
The Tamil Nadu-born cricketer finished with 362 runs off jus eight matches.
It was not just the batting that stood out. GT were clinical for their bowling displays as well. Mohammed Shami (28 wickets) was impactful in the powerplay as ever, scalping 17 wickets in that phase.
Afghanistan duo of Rashid Khan (27 wickets) and Noor Ahmad (16) teamed up on several occasions to provide crucial breakthroughs. If the just-concluded season is to go by, Rashid and Noor will not only form an able ‘spin-twin’ partnership for Afghanistan, but GT as well, should they continue playing for the same IPL team.
What went wrong for GT?
Number three batting. While GT persisted with Sai Sudharsan for the first five matches, during which he scored two fifties, but was dropped for the next six matches and Hardik Pandya batted in his place at number three.
And despite scoring two fifties during this period, Hardik failed to fire with the bat at times, like he did so during the 2022 season.
Another mistake that cost GT in Qualifier 1 of the playoffs was Vijay Shankar batting in at number six position. Vijay Shankar, a batting all-rounder, usually bats at the middle-order for GT, but on this occasion, once again, skipper Hardik (8) batted in number three and failed to make much impact.
Shankar, too, had batted in number three in GT’s away match against RCB just prior to Qualifier 1, and had scored a fifty in that match. However, the 32-year-old was demoted to number six in the Qualifier 1 game against CSK, and managed all but 14 runs before being dismissed by Matheesha Pathirana.
GT’s unsettled batting three position was a setback despite many positives that came out of their campaign, so much so that former India allrounder Irfan Pathan raised the ‘conundrum’ of GT’s batting in that particular position.
Maybe Sai Sudharsan was the right pick for number three for GT afterall. Sudharsan amassed 96 in the final against CSK, and with that, he capped off a productive season , scoring 362 runs from eight matches at a strike-rate of 141, all while batting in the number three position.
Gujarat Titans final finish: Runners-up
Gujarat Titans most runs IPL 2023: Shubman Gill (890)
Gujarat Titans most wickets IPL 2023: Moammed Shami (28)
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