Less than 24 hours after becoming the new Indian Premier League (IPL) champions, Gujarat Titans took out a victory parade on an open-top bus in Ahmedabad on Monday. The Hardik Pandya-led team was also hosted by Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendrabhai Patel. (More Cricket News)
Gujarat Titans defeated inaugural champions Rajasthan Royals by seven wickets with 11 balls to spare in a one-sided IPL 2022 final at Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad on Sunday.
In a dream debut season, the Titans won 10 out of 14 in the league stage to top the points table, then eased into the final with a comfortable win against Sanju Samson's Rajasthan Royals in Qualifier 1 at Eden Gardens, Kolkata.
As Gujarat Titans' victory parade hit the road in Ahmedabad on Monday, thousands of fans flooded the streets. Watch here.
Earlier in the day, state CM hosted the newly-crowned IPL champions and felicitated the players.
"Got a chance to interact with players of IPL 2022 winners Gujarat Titans. They presented me a bat with signatures of all squad members. The proceeds from it will be used in the education of the daughters of the state. Congratulations to all the players," the CM wrote on his Twitter handle.
According to reports, Gujarat Titans' players partied at the stadium till 3am after the final on Sunday, which was followed by another round of celebrations at the team hotel.
Hardik Pandya, leading a team for the first time, produced a sensational bowling spell to claim three wickets for 17 runs, then scored 34 runs off 30. The 28-year-old was adjudged the player of the final.
"This title is going to be a special one because we talked about creating a legacy. The coming generations will talk about it," Hardik had said after the triumph.
Hardik Pandya is the fourth Indian captain to win the IPL title, after MS Dhoni, Rohit Sharma and Gautam Gambhir.
"Everyone will remember this was the team who started this journey and to win the championship first year is very special," the all-rounder added.
He is also the third captain to bag the Player of the Match award in final, after Anil Kumble (for Royal Challengers Bangalore in 2009) and Rohit Sharma (Mumbai Indians in 2015).
Hardik Pandya has now five IPL titles. He previously won the trophy with Mumbai Indians.
Gujarat Titans, owned by Irelia Company Pte Ltd. (CVC Capital Partners), were one of the two debutants in IPL 2022, the other being Lucknow Super Giants. The British private equity and investment firm made a winning bid of INR 5,625 crore to get the rights to operate and own the Ahmedabad franchise.
Ahead of the IPL mega auction, Hardik Pandya was drafted as the team captain, followed by signings of India opening batter Shubman Gill and Afghan spin wizard Rashid Khan. Both Gill and Khan played pivotal roles in the title-winning campaign. In fact, Gill was the top scorer in the final -- an unbeaten 45 off 43, while Khan bowled four magical overs for 1/18.
Former India pacer Ashish Nehra is the head coach, while ex-South Africa opener Gary Kirsten is the team mentor and batting coach. Kirsten famously guided the Indian national cricket team to the 2011 World Cup title.
Gujarat Titans Squad: Hardik Pandya (c), Rashid Khan (vc), Wriddhiman Saha (wk), Shubman Gill, Matthew Wade, David Miller, Rahul Tewatia, Ravisrinivasan Sai Kishore, Yash Dayal, Alzarri Joseph, Mohammed Shami, Pradeep Sangwan, Varun Aaron, Jayant Yadav, Vijay Shankar, Gurkeerat Singh Mann, Abhinav Manohar, Lockie Ferguson, Darshan Nalkande, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Dominic Drakes, Sai Sudharsan, Noor Ahmad.
