Gujarat Titans on Sunday became the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022 champions after defeating Rajasthan Royals by 7 wickets in Ahmedabad. Prior to the season, a lot was spoken about the bench strength of Gujarat as it didn’t feature many big-ticket players. But they remained consistent throughout and ended their debut season with the trophy in their hands.
Out of 14 league-stage matches, they won 10 to remain on the top of the table. GT remained unbeaten in the playoffs and emerged as the newest champions. Each and every member of the Gujarat camp made valuable contributions when required. One of them was South African batter David Miller who cemented his place in the side as a finisher.
After going unsold in the initial round of the mega auction, Miller was fetched by Gujarat Titans in the accelerated round. The franchise showed faith in him by letting him play 14 games and in return, he scored 481 runs at an average of 68.71, including 2 fifties.
Former India batter Sanjay Manjrekar has lauded Miller’s game in the IPL 2022. Speaking with ESPNcricinfo, the former said after several failed attempts in the past seasons, the South African batter finally turned things around this year.
“David Miller was the biggest surprise. Apart from his first couple of years, all the other seasons had proved to be a failure for him. He suddenly stepped up while playing for a new franchise this year. It was his best IPL season. He batted really well in the final and also played a match-winning knock in Qualifier 1,” said Manjrekar.
At the same time, Manjrekar opined that Gujarat Titans cannot be called a big team as it’s yet to be seen how they perform in the coming years. He added that hat Rajasthan Royals will also have to do the same in the subsequent seasons.
“If a team has won, it is because they have got everything right in that particular season. We still cannot call GT a big team yet. While they have won the championship, it remains to be seen how they will come back and perform next year.
“The same goes for RR, who made it to the final after many years. If they are able to deliver similar performances next year, then we can say that two more strong teams have come. While CSK and MI were at their peak, they had 8-9 players who helped them win matches consistently,” he concluded.
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