In their first-ever finale clash, captain Hardik Pandya put on an all-around show as Gujarat Titans thrashed Rajasthan Royals by 7 wickets to lift their maiden title in front of a record crowd at the Narendra Modi Stadium on Sunday.

Gujarat Titans led by Hardik Pandya scripted history by becoming the second team to win the IPL title in the debut season. The first to do so was Rajasthan Royals, winning against Chennai Super Kings in the inaugural edition of IPL in 2008. Thanks to skipper Hardik Pandya for his all-round show at the Narendra Modi Stadium on Sunday.

After being told to bowl first by RR skipper Sanju Samson, Gujarat Titans kept their best bowling performance for the IPL 2022 Final, limiting Rajasthan Royals to 130/9. After RPS (129/8) in 2017, it is the second-lowest total in an IPL final. R Sai Kishore got picked wickets for 20 runs while Hardik Pandya bagged three wickets for 17.

Gujarat Titans did not have a good start, despite chasing a modest target of 131. The batters found it difficult to get going as Prasidh Krishna dismissed Wriddhiman Saha in the second over, and later, in the fifth over, Matthew Wade was sent back to the pavilion. With back-to-back wickets, Gujarat could manage to score a decent 54 in ten overs. However, skipper Hardik Pandya and Shubman Gill took charge of the game and brought up a 63-run impressive stand to keep the chase on. However, Hardik lost his wicket to Chahal in the 14 overs for a mere 34 runs. Eventually, David Miller and Gill, finishing the match off in style. With this, GT ended the Royals’ hope of lifting their second IPL trophy. 

Meanwhile, here’s a glimpse of their journey, and some astonishing facts that are worth knowing. 

IPL 2022 Winner Journey (Gujarat Titans)

Gujarat Titans have become the first-ever team to reach finals in the Indian Premier League 2022. The GT team franchise is owned by the CVC Capital Partners, who got inspired by the opportunity to represent and build the cricketing tradition. This amazing team is led by the Indian cricketer, Hardik Pandya with head coach being Ashish Nehra.

During the 14 play-off matches, the team had won 10 and lost 4 with 20-points (+0.316 Net RR) leading the top of the table. They had a strong batting line-up with David Miller (481 Runs, 2 50+), Shubman Gill (384 Runs, 4 50+), Hardik Pandya (413 Runs, 4 50+), Matthew Wade who helped the team to victory. Otherside, bowlers like Shami (20 Wickets, 8.0 Economy), Ferugson (12 Wickets, 8.96 Economy), Dayal (11 Wickets, 9.25 Economy) had equally contributed in taking wickets during crucial times of the game.

Gujarat Titans Team Players

IPL Runner Up Journey (Rajasthan Royals)

Rajasthan Royals is one of the popular Indian franchises setting the bar high with a spirit of Royalty by the team players. The irony is RR won the first-ever finals under Shane Warne’s captaincy against Chennai Super Kings.

After 14-years, Royals reached the finals with an outstanding performance from the team players throughout the IPL 15 season. The current team is led by Sanju Samson. RR has key players like Jos Buttler, Yuzvendra Chahal, Trent Boult, and R Ashwin. In the league stage, Royals won 9 matches, 5 losses with 18 points (+0.298 NRR), being the 2nd position in the points table.

Rajasthan Royals Team Players

Astonishing IPL 2022 Facts

Are you super-excited to know about interesting facts about the IPL 2022 season? Do  check it out below: 

KKR’s Century Jinx Continues

The Kolkata Knight Riders team players never scored a century after the incredible knock from Brendon Mccullum (158*, 73 balls) in 2008 and continues till date. The second highest individual run scorer for KKR is Gautam Gambhir, followed by Robin Uthappa, and Yusuf Pathan. We hope that KKR batters will break this jinx in the upcoming IPL 2023 and win the trophy for the 3rd time.  

No Raina, No Play-Offs

This a bit disheartening moment for the Chennai Super Kings fans as they haven’t qualified for the play-offs for the 2nd time in the history of IPL (i.e. 2021 and 2022). One of the major reasons could be due to the lack of all-rounders like Suresh Raina, a.k.a Chinna Thala who has been a part of CSK from the start of IPL.  

CSK Has Never Finished Last

CSK is the only IPL that has never finished last in the points table. A great thing for the Chennains to be proud of. Even this year, the Chennai team stood second to last with 4 wins. So far CSK team won 4 IPL titles in the year 2010, 2011, 2018, and 2021 under the former Indian captain, Mahendra Singh Dhoni. 

Sanju Samson Breaks MS Dhoni’s Unwanted IPL Record

The Rajasthan Royals skipper, Sanju Samson broke the unwanted record of MSD after he had lost the toss for 13th time in the IPL 2022 season. And yet Samson successfully led the team to reach the finals. Previously, it was under MS Dhoni who had lost the toss for 12 times during the IPL 2012.

Apart from these facts, you can also check out the list of IPL winners from 2008 to 2022 and gain some cricketing knowledge. You will surely come across the orange cap and purple cap holder, most runs, most wickets, sixes, fours, centuries, and a lot more interesting statistics. 

Conclusion

We hope you enjoyed the IPL 2022 (15 Season) with full of nail biting moments, boundaries, wickets, and more. Let us hope that IPL 2023 will be a great fest for all the cricketing fans as MS Dhoni, captain for 3 ICC winning teams (2007 T20, 2011 World Cup, and 2013 Champions Trophy), will retire from the IPL at the homeground, Chennai.