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Gujarat Titans: The IPL hunters, chasers
With their easy win over Delhi Capitals on Tuesday night, the IPL title holders again showed their poise while chasing down a target
Most teams prefer to chase targets in T20 cricket now. Gone are the days when the pressure of a total on the board would weigh heavily on the team batting second. If there’s dew and the ground dimensions are small, as is often the case in the subcontinent, it only adds to the confidence of the chasing team.
None of that, though, should dilute the praise IPL champions Gujarat Titans deserve for their chasing record. Having won eight out of nine games while batting second in their inaugural, title-winning campaign last year, they have made it two wins out of two this season. By doing so, they have extended the number of wins to 10 in 11 matches, adding to their aura as near invincible chasers.
Against Delhi Capitals at the Ferozeshah Kotla ground on Tuesday night, they were in a spot of bother at 54/3 after six overs with the red-hot Shubman Gill, Wriddhiman Saha and skipper Hardik Pandya back cooling their heels in the dugout. The panic button was never hit though.
While Sai Sudharsan and Vijay Shankar racked up a much-needed partnership of 53 for the fourth wicket, Titans still needed 56 off 40 balls when the latter was dismissed in the 14th over. Entered David Miller and his incredible power and finishing ability meant Titans would knock off the remaining runs in 29 balls.
After pushing and prodding for six balls, Miller did what he does best: punish a length ball from seamer Mukesh Kumar, hit it over midwicket for six. With the pressure instantly transferred to the fielding team, Kumar followed up with a wide before again straining his neck to follow the ball as it sailed over mid-on for Miller’s second six. The game was virtually sealed there.
After his 31 not out off 16 deliveries on Tuesday, Miller has stayed unbeaten in eight of the 10 chases he’s been involved in for the team, averaging 175.5 and striking at 155.3 with a top score of 94.
Calmness counts
Do Titans believe they can chase down any total?
“Yeah,” Miller, who had missed Titans’ first game due to South Africa’s series against Netherlands, told reporters. “We have been very calm through our chasing. Confidence has a big part to play. We have been very successful last season and now in the first two games. We definitely take a lot of confidence from that as a team. It’s about thinking the right things under pressure. It’s about making the correct decisions and not panicking too early. And you need to keep calculating all the way through.”
By highlighting their calmness in chases, Miller points to one of the key factors behind Titans’ success. It stems from the top, the captain-coach combination of Pandya and Ashish Nehra always exuding a sense of ease with proceedings.
“Hardik is definitely one of the top leaders I’ve worked with. He’s his own person and instils a lot of confidence within the squad,” Miller said.
Titans’ success while chasing in 2022 was largely to do with a middle-order comprising Pandya, Miller and Rahul Tewatia that could snatch victory from the jaws of defeat. Three of their wins came either off the final or the penultimate ball. In what should serve as a warning to other teams, they are arguably stronger this year.
While Gill was the team’s second-highest run-getter last season with 483 runs, he’s batting better than he’s ever done. If the opener can provide blistering starts, as he did in the first game against Chennai Super Kings (CSK), Tewatia and Rashid Khan in the lower-order may not even be called into action.
There’s also the steady rise of 21-year-old Sudharsan at No 3. Having made 145 runs in five games in his debut season, the left-handed batter seems ready for a more prominent role this year after a breakthrough domestic campaign for Tamil Nadu. In the Vijay Hazare Trophy – the national 50-over competition – he was the third-highest run-getter with 610 at 76.25.
“Sudharsan played a few games last year. To come in and do what he has done in the first two games has been really encouraging for the team,” Miller said of his younger teammate. “He is a seriously talented player and we need him in the squad. He made the correct decisions in the middle. It is nice to see him doing really well.”
All of this means Titans are in prime shape to mount a serious title defence.
