IPL 2022: Gujarat Titans SILENCE critics to become first team to qualify for playoffs, skipper Hardik Pandya says ‘NO ONE gave us a chance but here we are’

Gill conceded that not many people had given the side much of a chance coming into the season.

“It feels great. Coming into the season, not many people gave us much of a chance. Not many people thought we’d qualify. But here we are, sitting on top of the table. It feels pretty great,” said Gill, the ‘Player of the Match’.

The team that’s made it a habit to come back from the dead is now set to get two chances to qualify for the IPL 2022 final on debut. After the IPL mega auctions, people pointed at the Titans’ batting. While the bowling looked pretty sorted, the batting looked weak, with David Miller’s relative lack of runs in the past few IPLs and Gill’s patchy form a concern.

𝗤 ho gaya na… #LSGvGT | #AavaDe | #TATAIPL | #SeasonOfFirsts pic.twitter.com/8VJAH4zlfw

— Gujarat Titans (@gujarat_titans) May 10, 2022

“To be totally honest, when we walked away from the auction, we didn’t at all think we have a weak batting line-up, in the slightest,” team director Vikram Solanki said after the Titans’ big win over LSG.

“Once we walked away from the auction, we were pretty pleased with the work we did. A lot has been made about our line-up, and I’m fine with that. People are absolutely entitled to their opinion. But I can assure you, at no stage did we think we had a weakened or a weak batting line-up.”

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐰𝐞 𝐪𝐮𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐢𝐞𝐝… 💙#SeasonOfFirsts #AavaDe #LSGvGT pic.twitter.com/gQMwCtWSC7

— Gujarat Titans (@gujarat_titans) May 11, 2022

The Titans knew what they were doing when they signed Pandya, spinner Rashid Khan and Gill — a potent nucleus around which the team could revolve. The team then tapped into the potential of young, relatively untested players to bring out the best in them.

‘Playoffs calling’ for the @gujarat_titans 😊😊#TATAIPL pic.twitter.com/v9E7DH8P9m

— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) May 10, 2022