It is also interesting to see the two finalists from last season in the bottom half of the table — a prediction made by News 9 at the start of the tournament. The other big story from the edition so far has been the shocking form of two of the greatest Indian batsmen of the millennium — Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma.
It took the most dynamic captain of IPL 2022 to break the 34-match record trend of winning the toss and chasing in the tournament. Hardik won the toss and batted first against KKR at the DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai on Saturday afternoon — his decision vindicated after the Titans defended a par total of 156.
Another big trend was reversed in the last week and a half in the competition. Chasing is no longer an advantage in IPL 2022! Teams batting first have won nine of the last 15 matches in the tournament. However, overall, the balance is still in favour of batting second with the teams chasing winning 20 of the 37 matches in the competition.
Jos Buttler, the tournament’s highest scorer, made only 39 off 35 balls, and skipper Sanju Samson scored 14, before both fell to Pandya in the middle overs. Hardik Pandya picked up three key wickets as Gujarat Titans restricted Rajasthan Royals to 130-9 in the final of the Indian Premier League
GT lost two early wickets, with Chahal picking up one of them, but eventually chased down the target of 131 with 11 balls to spare.
Gujarat Titans, the new team, the new entrant managed to lift the trophy in the first year itself. It was truly an outstanding display from them. It was also the third time in the tournament that they managed to beat Rajasthan
