Gujarat Titans were crowned the champions in the IPL 2022 season. Led by Hardik Pandya from the front, the Ahmedabad-based franchise made it all the way to the finals of the competition and thumped Rajasthan Royals to win their maiden title in their debut season.
The defending champions kick-started their title defence ever so well in the sixteenth edition of the IPL. Notably, they were the first team to qualify for the playoffs. They finished the league stage as the table-toppers with 20 points, more than any other team.
Gujarat Titans recently locked horns with Chennai Super Kings in Qualifier 1 at Chepauk Stadium in Chennai. After a hat-trick of wins over CSK in the IPL, they lost to CSK in a crucial fixture. CSK beat GT by 15 runs and made it to the 10th IPL final, more than any other team.
Now in this article, let’s take a glimpse at the three reasons why Gujarat Titans lost Qualifier 1 against Chennai Super Kings.
1. Losing the plot in the run-chase
Chennai Super Kings posted a competitive total of 172/7 in their quota of 20 overs. In response, Gujarat Titans were expected to dictate the terms and dominate the proceedings in the powerplay overs but that wasn’t meant to be because they lost Wriddhiman Saha. The game was well-balanced till 11 overs before Gujarat Titans slowly lost their spark as they played right into the hands of CSK and lost the game.
Also Read:
- 6 wicket-keepers who have scored a century with a strike rate in excess of 200 in IPL
- Teams that conceded and smashed the most sixes in IPL 2023
2. Team selection
Gujarat Titans might have missed out on the trick of selecting the right team. Darshan Nalkande was brought into the set-up in place of Yash Dayal but that didn’t do any good to them. The match was played in Chennai as GT could have picked the local players Sai Sudharshan and R Sai Kishore who are well aware of the conditions. However, Nalkande didn’t do any justice with the ball as he conceded 44 runs and took 1 wicket.
3. Tough target on a tough batting wicket
Gujarat Titans’ bowlers tried their maximum best to keep the CSK batters in check. However, the yellow army still found a way to score runs and put up a competitive total on the board, despite a tough batting wicket. MS Dhoni used his bowlers to better effect and GT failed to chase down the target.
