GT vs RR Match Summary:

Rajasthan Royals 130/9
Gujarat Titans (18.1/20 ov, T:131) 133/3
Titans won by 7 wickets (with 11 balls remaining)

The wait is over and we finally have IPL 2022 Winner. Gujarat Titans win the title in the maiden season. The team outbowled Rajasthan’s batting in the first innings as they plundered the opponent for a meager 130. Chasing a small total under high pressure can be tricky at times but Gujarat showed their temperament and did not lose patience at any point during the match. 

The batters lost their wickets only on very good deliveries but did not look desperate to be hitting boundaries even when the run pace was really slow. Hardik Pandya set the mood of the innings with both bat and bowl. In the middle, he played shots with a straight bat and tried to time the ball correctly without any rush. Shubhman Gill showed great character as he faced every bowler from the start but did not let them dominate him. He even faced many dot balls but that didn’t worry him. 

Apart from Trent Boult, none of the Rajasthan’s bowlers could not make any impact. The team seemed to have relied on Jos Buttler so much that once he failed, the other batters didn’t know how to react. Bould tried to bring the momentum back to RR’s side but other bowlers didn’t match up and looked easy for Gujarat Batters to score against. Ashwin was a big flop today as even though he came into bowl a little later, he failed to make any impact. He got hit for 32 runs in 3 overs. A couple of catches were also missed in the initial over that could have changed the game in Rajasthan’s favor but that didn’t happen.

The losing captain Sanju Samson reflected on the loss and he talked about his team’s journey in the tournament as he said, “This season was really special for us. Last two-three seasons all the fans, everyone was having a really hard time. Good to give them some happy moments. Really proud of my team. Great youngsters, great senior players. One off day today but really proud of my team. Right from the auctions we wanted to have quality bowlers, they win you tournaments. I am proud of my team. We believe quality bowlers win you the tournament. So we invested in them. With Jos playing throughout 20 overs, my role was a bit different. It was a decent season for me, nice 30s and 40s and 20s. But there is a lot to learnt. And huge congratulations to Gujarat Titans.”

Hardik Pandya, the winning captain looked calm as dove as he talked about the winning the title in their maiden attempt. He spoke about his team’s effort as a unit as he said, “This is the right example for any team in the world. If you can play as a team and build a good unit with genuine people around, wonders can happen. I and Ashu pa, we like to play proper bowlers. Batters can obviously chip in, but most of the time I have seen in T20 cricket – it’s a batter’s game but bowlers win you games. A lot of times we won the games as well, but we always spoke about what are the things we missed out and how we can get better from here. Everyone chipped in. Count myself lucky winning 5 finals, it’s been exciting. This is going to be a special one. We spoke about creating a legacy. Generation to come, everyone will remember this was the team who started this journey and to win the championship first year is very special.”

Player of the Match: Hardik Pandya

Emerging Player of the Season: Umran Malik

Super Striker of the Tournament: Dinesh Karthik

Player of the Tournament:Jos Buttler