Gujarat Titans (GT) made their debut in the IPL 2022 and won the championship in their first season under Hardik Pandya. They looked to be a consistent side with T20 specialists who can turn around the game. GT never relied on a single individual for their win. They demonstrated a collective performance from all the players.
They are the most successful side since their debut in 2022. They have played two finals in their 3 seasons so far and are cruising towards their 3rd play-offs in their 4th season. They have the highest winning percentage ( 64.15 ) since their debut in IPL.
Their game plan and consistent performance remind me of the OG Chennai Super Kings from 2008-2015 who dominated the IPL like no one else. Let’s look at the similarities of GT and old CSK team.
Textbook Shots
In the era of slog shots and ramp shots, GT openers Sai Sudharshan and Shubman Gill are rewriting the script by scoring quick runs consistently with their orthodox cricketing shots. Back then, players like Murali Vijay and Mike Hussey used to destroy the opponents with their clean cricketing shots.
Even Ruturaj Gaikwad and Devon Conway also followed the same template in 2023. They score runs at a high strike rate with less risky shots, which will create more pressure on the bowler as chances for the batter to make mistakes are very less.
T20 Legend at no.3
CSK had Mr.IPL Suresh Raina at no.3, who served them for more than a decade and won many matches single-handedly. GT had found a similar commodity for them in the name of Jos Buttler, who is a T20 legend and has the ability to turn around games single-handedly.
Jos Buttler had already done that for them in the game against DC, where they chased 200+ for the first time in IPL history. He is a great addition to this batting lineup who could play according to the situation.
Tamil Nadu players
This sounds really strange that a franchise based on Gujarat has 4 Tamil Nadu players in their squad. They already had B Sai Sudarshan and R Sai Kishore from their first season. They bought Sharukh Khan last year and Washington Sundar in this year’s mega auction.
Back then, CSK had a strong core of Tamil Nadu players like Murali Vijay, Subramaniam Badrinath, Anirudha Srikanth and Ravichandran Ashwin. These players were the main pillars behind the success story of CSK.
Spin Choke
After the auction, everyone expected CSK to choke their opponents with spin at Chepauk. But, they failed to do as their OG spin duo Ashwin and Jadeja are out of form in this season. GT silently built a strong spin core with young bloods like Sai Kishore and Washington Sundar, along with the experienced Rashid Khan.
They choked KKR batter at Eden Gardens . CSK used to do this back in those days with prime Ravindra Jadeja and Ravichandran Ashwin along with a supportive spinner like Jakati, Pawan Negi or Suresh Raina.
Indian Fast bowlers
The old CSK always relied on Indian Fast bowlers. They never spent too much on Overseas Seamers. They never used more than one foreign fast bowler in their playing XI. Doug Bollinger, Ben Hilfenaus, and currently Matheesha Pathirana are some examples of that.
Indian bowlers like Deepak Chahar, Shardul Thakur, Ashish Nehra, Ishwar Pandey, and Tushar Deshpande donned the CSK jersey and performed well for them over the years. Even in this season, they are backing Khaleel Ahmed, who is doing wonders for them.
GT has followed the same trend this year by picking Indian seamers like Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna and Arshad Khan. Even when their prime fast bowler Kagiso Rabada was not available, they went with Ishant Sharma instead of Gerald Coetzee.
Caribbean Finisher
CSK is privileged to have the services of Dwayne Bravo, who has won them many matches with both bat and ball. He finished many matches for them single-handedly. His performance in the first game against MI of their comeback season of 2018 was iconic.
GT had found a new Caribbean flavour in their team in the name of Sherfane Rutherford. He is doing the finisher role of the team along with Rahul Tewatia and Sharukh Khan. He had worked well for them so far, but still a long way to go for matching the legacy of Dwayne Bravo.
Both teams, CSK & GT played the finals in the first season against the Rajasthan Royals. GT even bettered the record by winning the title. CSK carried their domination for a long time and created a great legacy, which they still have. That’s what gave them die-hard fans who are still supporting their team at their worst.
Hope GT creates a new legacy from here and will be known as a legendary team for the upcoming generation, like how we all know CSK.
Also Read: KKR vs GT: Reasons For KKR’s Defeat Against GT