5 key players that led Gujarat Titans to IPL 2022 title 
Gujarat Titans proved everybody wrong as they became the Champions of IPL 2022 defeating Rajasthan Royals by 7 wickets in a jam-packed stadium played at Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad on 29th May.
Before the 2022 auction, few franchises released key players. Gujarat Titans retained three of those players from draft including Hardik Pandya for Rs 15 Crore, Rashid Khan, and Shubman Gill for Rs 7 Crore.
During the 2022 IPL auction table, Gujarat Titans packed their line-up with Jason Roy, Lockie Ferguson, Abhinav Manahor, Rahul Tewaita, Noor Ahmed, Sai Kishore, Dominic Drakes, Jayant Yadav, Vijay Shankar, Darshan Nalkande, Yash Dayal, Alazzari Joseph, Pradeep Sangwan, David Miller, Wriddhiman Saha, Matthew Wade, Varun Aaron.
Jason Roy opted out of the tournament due to bio-bubble situation. The experts ruled Gujarat Titans to make it into playoffs stage. Under the captaincy of Hardik Pandya and coaching of Ashish Nehra, Gujarat Titans performed brilliantly as a unit winning matches from impossible situations. They finished at the top of points table with 10 wins and got two chances of reaching the finals.
Gujarat Titans continued their impressive performance winning the qualifier 1 against Rajasthan Royals. It was a teamwork as all Gujarat Titans players rose to occasions. Their fast-bowling line-up looked impressive and stopped the opposition scoring big runs.
There was different match winners on different occasions keeping the momentum going. They lost only 4 matches in the entire tournament. Hardik Pandya as a captain led from the front and ensured that Gujarat Titans won IPL 2022 on their first attempt in front of a capacity crowd.
Here we look at the 5 Key Players that led Gujarat Titans to IPL 2022 title
Shubman Gill
Shubman Gill played a key role for Gujarat Titans while opening the innings in entire tournament. Before this season, the stylish opener struggled with strike rate while playing for Kolkata Knight Riders.
Gill showed his temperament in tough situations during IPL 2022. He was one of the backbones for Gujarat Titans line-up providing decent starts and holding one end up when wickets fell from one end. His performance during this season with 483 runs from 16 matches (16 innings) including 4 half-centuries.
Gill registered his IPL career best score of 96 against Punjab Kings. During IPL 2022 finals against Rajasthan Royals, he was given a reprieve as Chahal dropped a simple chance and then he made them pay. He hit the winning runs with six helping Gujarat Titans win the title by 7 wickets. From 118.90 from last year, Gill shifted his strike rate to 132.33.
He made his IPL debut for KKR in 2018. Despite consistent performances, KKR was not able to win any titles due to his low strike rate.
Shubman Gill performance in IPL 2022
| Matches | Innings | Runs scored | Highest score | Average | Strike Rate | Fifties |
| 16 | 16 | 483 | 96 | 34.50 | 132.33 | 4 |
Hardik Pandya
Hardik Pandya led from the front with both bat, ball, and captaincy for Gujarat Titans in IPL 2022. He showed his all-round abilities throughout the tournament. Due to his consistent performances this season, he made a comeback into T20I squad to face South Africa at home from 9th June.
Hardik kept the momentum going for Gujarat Titans with the bat. He usually came at number 3 or 4 helping GT to recover from tough situations. His performance looked impressive with the bat scoring 487 runs from 15 matches (15 innings) with 4 half-centuries to his name. He registered his career best IPL score of 87* against Rajasthan Royals and helped GT win the match easily.
Due to some injuries, Hardik Pandya did not play one match as Rashid Khan was named the captain against CSK.
Hardik Pandya showed his abilities in the grand finale with his career best IPL figures of 3 for 17 in 4 overs grabbing important wickets of Sanju Samson, Buttler and Shimron Hetymer to stem RR batting line-up. Pandya looked impressive with the bat also as Gujarat Titans lost 2 early wickets of Saha and Wade cheaply. For his brilliant performance, Hardik Pandya was awarded the man of the match.
Hardik Pandya played according to the situation and put bad deliveries away for boundaries. He also delivered the goods for GT in first qualifier against RR. Chasing 189 runs to win, Pandya looked confident and remained not out on 40 helping Gujarat Titans win the match along with Miller.
He looked composed in tough situations making bowling changes and ensure that Gujarat Titans won matches.
Hardik Pandya performance with the bat in IPL 2022
| Matches | Innings | Runs scored | Highest score | Average | Strike Rate | Fifties |
| 16 | 16 | 487 | 87* | 44.27 | 131.27 | 4 |
Hardik Pandya’s performance with the ball in IPL 2022
| Matches | Innings | Wickets | Best figures | Economy |
| 15 | 10 | 8 | 3/17 | 7.28 |
David Miller
The South African middle-order explosive hitter, David Miller was not bought on the first day, but Gujarat Titans took him for Rs 3 Crore. After disappointing performances with Punjab Kings franchise, Miller became an improved player against spin and demonstrated great hitting abilities making life tough for the opposition bowlers.
He had the best season in Indian Premier League history this season. During this edition of IPL, Miller scored 481 runs from 16 matches with outstanding average of 68.71. He smashed at a strike rate of 142.73 with career-best IPL score of 94* against Chennai Super Kings played at MCA Stadium, Pune.
Chasing 189 runs to win in the qualifier 1 against Rajasthan Royals, David Miller played a match winning knock of 68* with 3 back-to-back sixes against Prasidh Krishna. He showed his during the finals against Rajasthan Royals where he remained not out and stayed till the end along with Gill helping Gujarat Titans win their maiden IPL title.
He looked in decent touch against the pacers and smashed spinners all over the ground. His performance was key to Gujarat Titans winning prestigious IPL title. With least number of sixes hit by Gujarat Titans with 79, David Miller smashed 23 sixes.
David Miller performance in IPL 2022
| Matches | Innings | Total Score | Highest Score | Average | Strike Rate | Fifties | Fours | Sixes |
| 16 | 16 | 481 | 94* | 68.71 | 142.73 | 2 | 32 | 23 |
Rashid Khan
Rashid Khan also played a key role in helping Gujarat Titans winning IPL 2022 title. Despite not picking up many wickets, he performed well with both bat and ball. After Sunrisers Hyderabad decided to release him, Gujarat Titans retained him as one of the three players from draft.
As Hardik Pandya was injured for one match against CSK, Rashid Khan led from the front and helped Gujarat Titans win with cameo. He showed his abilities with the bat against Sunrisers Hyderabad along with Rahul Tewaita to win the match on last ball.
He was impressive with the ball grabbing 19 wickets from 16 matches (16 innings) at an economy of 6.60 runs per over. Gujarat Titans had different match winners especially in tough chases. Rashid picked his career-best IPL figures of 4 for 24 against Lucknow Super Giants where they defended a low target.
Despite going for few runs in some matches, Rashid Khan showed his class and helped Gujarat Titans win the title.
Rashid Khan performance in IPL 2022
| Matches | Innings | Wickets | Best figures | Economy |
| 16 | 16 | 19 | 4/24 | 6.60 |
Mohammed Shami
Mohammed Shami was released by Punjab Kings release franchise before 2022 auction. Gujarat Titans bought him for Rs 6.25 Crore. He featured for Gujarat Titans in all matches and was simply outstanding with his pace and accuracy.
Gujarat Titans had a top-quality pace bowling line-up comprising of Ferguson, Joseph, Yash Dayal, Rashid Khan that troubled the opposition batsmen. He produced some magical spells picking up 20 wickets from 16 matches. Despite going for 8 runs per over, Shami showed composure in tough situations and provided early breakthroughs.
He registered his best figures of 3 for 25 against Lucknow Super Giants in their opening match. Shami looked in brilliant form for Gujarat Titans bowling consistent speed. He ended the season with a brilliant yorker to dismiss Parag. With a superb effort, Shami looked threatening and kept momentum on RCB side.
Mohammed Shami’s performance with the ball in IPL 2022
| Matches | Innings | Wickets | Best Figures | Economy |
| 16 | 16 | 20 | 3/25 | 8.00 |
Wriddhiman Saha also performed brilliantly after being asked to open. Yash Dayal also impressed in his debut season and troubled opposition batsmen in tough situations. Vijay Shankar got chances but could not impress. Rahul Tewaita also proved his worth with cameo knocks helping Gujarat Titans win matches. Sai Sudharsan impressed with batting but did not many chances. He scored 145 runs from 5 scoring 65* against Punjab Kings.
The left-arm spinner Sai Kishore also impressed against top-quality batsmen picking up wickets and controlling run flow.
Ashish Nehra also played a key role in keeping the dressing room calm. Abhinav Manahor also played some lovely knocks. Gujarat Titans chased down big totals and dashed opponent teams chances of winning in thrilling finishes.