GT's road to IPL 2023 Final: Titans play like defending champions should

Gujarat Titans won the last season on the back of a very solid performance. The Pandya-led side has been all about hard work as defending champs defend their title at home

Gujarat Titans played like the defending champions should as they were in the title defence mode right from the first game itself. The Titans have been helped by amazing individual performances by Shubman Gill (most runs this season), Mohammed Shami (most wickets this season) and Rashid Khan (130 runs and 27 wickets). 

Hardik Pandya’e leadership and Ashsih Nehra’s coaching from the sidelines along with the revival of Mohit Sharam’s IPL career have also played a crucial role in Titans being able to cross all hurdles. The inclusion of Noor Ahmad, Joshua Little and coming to form of Vijay Shankar have been the cherry on top for Hardik’s side. 

Also Read: CSK's road to IPL 2023 Final: Every game a home game, Chennai reign supreme

Gujarat win back to back games to start the season

Titans chased down 179 against Chennai with ease in the first game and then went to Delhi and beat the hosts by five wickets to sail through to two wins in a row. 

Rinku Singh’s record-breaking feat beats Titans

After the two early wins, Gujarat were heading towards yet another victory before Rinku Singh decided to write his name in the history books. He hit Yash Daytal for five sixes in a row as Kolkata Knight Riders chased down 29 in the last over to win the match. 

Easy win followed by a close loss

Recovering from that loss, the Titans beat Punjab Kings by six wickets. The match could have been an easy win, but was dragged unnecessarily to the fifth ball of the last over when all Titans needed was 13 runs off 12 balls. 

But after this win, the men in dark blue suffered yet another loss at home as Shimron Hetmyer played a blinder of a knock to win it for Rajasthan Royals.

Titans defend 135 in Lucknow

Gujarat Titans then moved to Lucknow where spin was the major talking point. It came out to be a no surprise on that matter as Lucknow spinners restricted Gujarat to only 135/6. Later on, the hosts were restricted to 127 thanks to brilliant performances by Mohit Sharma and Noor Ahmad. 

Big wins against Kolkata and Mumbai for Pandya’s side

After a see-saw battle against Lucknow in which they survived, the Gujarat Titans became giant slayers as they beat the Mumbai Indians and Kolkata Knight Riders in back-to-back games to get to the top of the points table. 

Delhi get a revival after beating Titans at home

However, after being at the top, they lost to the bottom-placed Delhi Capitals who were facing an early exit. If Delhi were to lose that game, they would have gone out of the reckoning. Ishant Sharma turned out to be the hero of the game as he defended 12 in the last over and won his team the game by five runs. 

Rashid Khan bundles out Rajasthan

It was now a battle for the top spot as the Rajasthan Royals were up against the Titans at their home venue of Sawai Mansingh in Jaipur. Rashid Khan came out trumps on the spin-friendly wicket, picking 3/14. The Royals were rolled over for 118 in the 18th over.  Titans chased it down with ease, getting to the victory in only 13.5 overs with nine wickets remaining. 

Hardik wins the battle of the Pandyas

Big brother Krunal Pandya was appointed captain of the Lucknow Super Giants after an injury to KL Rahul mid-way. His first assignment was against his brother Hardik Pandya’s side away from home. But the big brother failed as Gujrat amassed 227 in 20 overs, thanks to a 94 from Gill and 81 from Wriddhiman Saha. Lucknow could manage to get only 171. 

Surya's show overpowers Rashid’s all-round brilliance 

Having won eight games out of 11 already, Titans moved to Mumbai and were welcomed by the first century of his IPL career from Suryakumar Yadav. He hit 103 off just 49 balls to take his team to 218 in the first innings. Gujarat were then reduced to 103/8 in only the 14th over before Rashid Khan provided respectability to the total with his 32-ball 79. The Titans lost the game by 27 runs. 

Easy win against Sunrisers followed by Gill knocking out Bangalore

Almost through to the playoffs, the Titans took an easy win against the Sunrisers Hyderabad at home. In the last game of the league, Titans played Bangalore where a win for RCB could have sent them to the playoffs. Virat Kohli hit a century and pushed the RCB total to 197/5. However, there was brilliance to be seen in the second innings as well. 

Shubman Gill counterattacked and hit his second IPL century in back-to-back games as Titans chased the total down and put RCB out of the playoffs and sent MI through. 

Lose to Chennai, beat Mumbai to reach the second final

Gill, however, could continue his heroics in the Qualifier and Gujarat lost it against CSK at MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chepauk. But after the loss, the Titans moved back to their own home at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad. They were up against Mumbai Indians who had beaten Lucknow in the Eliminator. 

Asked to bat first, the Titans posted a mammoth 233 thanks to Shubman Gill’s 129 off just 60 balls. Mohit Sharma then took 5/10 as Mumbai were bowled out for 171 and Titans won the game by 62 runs to enter their second final in back-to-back seasons.