Nimesh: “Kirsten being the coach when India won World Cup in 2011 and now batting coach and mentor for this GT. Kudos to him! “
SunilJoy: “Wicket of the first ball of the tournament and Six of the last ball of the tournament. Well played GT.”
Vishwas Jajodia: “Saha has done really well. He made up for Gill. “
Prakash: “One important aspect that all GT people are saying is the influence and tactical acumen of Ashish Nehra and no one in the fraternity knew about him. That has been the success for Nehra..”
Tewatia: In the Eliminator 1, we were pretty relaxed. We focused on taking it deep with our top-order batting long. Before the start of the season someone had asked me what my goal is. I said I didn’t have a personal goal but I want to win the trophy. I don’t know about the party but I am not going to sleep tonight. The team management has shown so much trust in me. I don’t think there is need to say anything after winning the trophy.
Kirsten: Really chuffed. You are looking for balance, depth at the auction but the most important is you need guys who are versatile. We had a strong bowling attack throughout the tournament and towards the end we even went a bowler extra and a batter light. Hardik has been incredibly humble and eager to learn. He batted beautifully, taking responsibility which is different from what we have seen of him in the IPL. T20 is a very tactical game. I loved working with Ashish, he is tactically very good. It’s an incredible winning in your first season in front of 100,000 people.
Gill: We thought if we could restrict them under 150, it would be nice but we restricted them well under 150.
Rashid: We adjusted quickly to the wicket, everyone took the responsibility. The middle overs were very impirtant. So proud to be here with him [Gill]. Very hard working guy. I thought he was the one guy against whom I would have a bit trouble but he was on my side. It’s the biggest achievement of your career – being part of the IPL-winning team. Winning here needs lots of hard work, energy. It’s the biggest achievement of my career.
Ferguson: Hardik led from the front, he has throughout the season.
Wade: A very relaxed team environment. Ashish created that. We didn’t rely on one individual. Thanks to the crowd for coming out, hopefully we can do it next year as well.
Miller: It has been a phenomenal journey. It has been a collective effort throughout the season. Hardik has gotten better and better as the season progressed. Definitely my best seaosn.
Shami: It was the first ball so I wanted to bowl well but I wasn’t thinking much. I was just trying to bowl a good line and length.
Saha: It was my fifth final and this is the second time I am finishing on the winning side. A lot of people didn’t rate us before the start of the tournament, and we have proven them wrong. It all started with Shami taking the wicket with his first ball in our first game.
11.39pm Gujarat Titans are the winners of IPL 2022 – a title in their maiden season. And what a season this has been, exceeding everyone’s expectations. Not many rated them after the auction but they played like a well-oiled machine under Hardik Pandya. So many players stepping up over the course of the tournament – Shami, Gill, Hardik, Tewatia, Rashid, Saha… The luck too was on their side. But tonight it was a clinical performance. They lost the toss but it didn’t matter as they wanted to bowl anyway. And their bowlers set up the game, restricting Royals to a mere 130. Boult and Prasidh bowled well with the new ball but the target was too low. Gill, who was dropped early on, anchored the chase while Hardik (to some extent) and Miller played their shots around him. In the end, they won by seven wickets with 11 balls to spare. Royals had the highest run-getter and the highest wicket-taker in the tournament but not the trophy.