“I saw, I came & I conquered” if Gujarat Titans would be a person they would have echoed the same sentiment.
Let’s be honest most people didn’t thought in the wildest of their dreams that this new franchise will be winning the marquee event when the tournament started.
This new franchise under the leadership of Hardik Pandya who was eagerly waiting to prove himself as an all-rounder hit the right chord along with his team from the word go and ultimately went on to win the cash rich league.
𝗖. 𝗛. 𝗔. 𝗠. 𝗣. 𝗜. 𝗢. 𝗡. 𝗦! 🏆 🙌
That moment when the @gujarat_titans captain @hardikpandya7 received the IPL trophy from the hands of Mr. @SGanguly99, President, BCCI and Mr. @JayShah, Honorary Secretary, BCCI. 👏 👏#TATAIPL | #GTvRR pic.twitter.com/QKmqRcemlY
— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) May 29, 2022
As Pandya perfectly mentioned in his post-match conference after winning IPL 2022 “We are the first group of players for Gujarat Titans who will inspire next generation to play for this wonderful franchise and make a glory for themselves”
Gujarati Commentary panel to be introduced for the first time in IPL 2022
Credit for this stupendous performance is given to players and most importantly captain Hardik Pandya who brilliantly marched his troops throughout IPL 2022 and they deserve all the accolades coming their way but let’s take a moment to talk about some of the unsung heroes who laid the foundation for this brilliant D day.
- Ashish Nehra: Former India cricketer Ashish Nehra who hails from Delhi currently lives in Goa known for his jolly and outspoken nature represented the country as player in all three forms of the game for nearly 20 years.
Nehra was part of RCB management setup for two years as bowling coach ultimately when it was announced that he will be the next coach of Titians eyebrows were raised again but the jolly Nehra sneakingly motivated his players behind the scenes without taking much limelight throughout the tournament and even in the night of the final when his team lifted the title he was calm, composed and simply went on to collect the memento.
There was no show-offs, no shouting despite realizing the magnitude of his achievement where he became the first Indian coach ever in the history of IPL to lift the title.
Emotions, insights & a recap of the maiden IPL triumph in their maiden IPL season! ☺️ 🏆
On the mic with the @gujarat_titans' title-winning Captain @hardikpandya7 & Head Coach Ashish Nehra. 👏 👏 – By @RajalArora
Full interview 🎥 🔽 #TATAIPL | #GTvRR https://t.co/mzJxEOwIAT pic.twitter.com/KnYtoojKTt
— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) May 30, 2022
There was a short interview uploaded on IPL official website where Nehra was taking to Pandya about the entire campaign how did it panned out for Gujarat and the moment Pandya started appreciating former he immediately said “Let’s Go” which clearly indicate your achievement is enough to speak about you there is no need for strong words.
- Gary Kirsten: Gary Kirsten might be a South African in nationality but this name has been etched in history of Indian cricket as under his helm as coach India won 50 over World Cup in 2011 after a period of 28 years.
Many Indian fans wanted him to stay as coach of Men in Blue but he denied and went back home but his coaching stint continued with different teams.
In 2018, he came back as batting coach of RCB and next year after Daniel Vettori’s exit he was appointed permanent coach for the same franchise.
Kirsten did leave RCB as coach from 2020 onwards but his journey with IPL continues this time in the capacity of batting coach and mentor of Gujrat Titans.
We live for nights like these 👏💪#SeasonOfFirsts #AavaDe #GTvCSK pic.twitter.com/WVxZx8XqCA
— Gujarat Titans (@gujarat_titans) April 17, 2022
All the admirations targeted towards him once Gujarat won the title in the night of the final he immediately redirected it to captain and coach as if he hasn’t done anything but this is what champions do they remain humble on their success and let the world sing lullaby in their honour.
- Mithun Manhas: He is another name which needs to be mentioned highly for Gujarat Titians success in the ongoing edition of cash rich league.
Before diving deep into his fielding coaching stint with Titians as player in First class cricket he has already amassed 9,714 runs at a batting average of 45.82 with his highest score being 205*
When the lights are brightest ,pressure is highest , crowds are the loudest ,the best will arrive , the strongest will survive, the greatest will thrive @gujarat_titans #AavaDe pic.twitter.com/mQ9S0VBRBx
— Mithun Manhas (@MithunManhas) May 30, 2022
The interesting and surprising fact about him is the association with RCB as their assistant coach for 2019 IPL but this year he joined Gujarat Titans as fielding coach he has been top notch be it Rashid Khan running fast towards boundaries to save fours or Pandya diving to his left and right to take some scintillating catch Minhas deserve the appreciation for ensuring fielding of Gujarat should be top notch throughout the marquee event.
- Vikram Solanki: The architect of Titans victory wouldn’t be complete without this man Vikram Solanki who was born in India but at the age of 8 his entire family moved to England and played junior and senior cricket from Wolverhampton cricket club.
We will not deep dive into his individual performance as player but we will be looking towards his coaching stint with IPL which he started in the year 2019 with RCB as Assistant Coach.
Having watched him from close quarters, Vikram Bhai is all praise for Hardik the captain 💙#SeasonOfFirsts #AavaDe pic.twitter.com/VV7GuGrtOT
— Gujarat Titans (@gujarat_titans) May 29, 2022
He was recently appointed as the director of cricket for Gujarat Titans you might have not seen him in the limelight but the man has worked hard behind the scenes and his coaching acumen must have helped Titans players to improve their tactical thinking and individual gameplay.
- CVC Capitals: Just imagine if KKR have won the title media would be wondering around Shahrukh Khan to take his byte the same applies for other franchise who have owners quite famous in Indian fraternity but what about CVC Capitals?
Gujarat Titians have won and the entire coaching staff deserve all the appreciation but CVC Capitals who are the owners of the franchise deserve even bigger applause for showing interest in one of the biggest cricket tournament in the world and appointing right people at the right place and letting them free to express themselves.
CVC capitals is a Luxembourg-based private investment advisory firm based on Luxemborg where they have approximately raised £ 157 billion across markets based in European, American and Asian entity.
However at the last, there are so many people have worked behind the scenes to ensure Titans won the title so team sportzcraazy equally appreciate them.
Also Read: Gujarat Titans Team Owners and Sponsors