3 seasons in, Gujarat Titans' life is not Hakuna Matata anymore

Cast your mind back to February 13, 2022. The mega auction for the 15th season of the IPL had come to a conclusion with 10 teams this time finalizing their rosters.

Of the two new franchises that entered the auction hall in Bengaluru, the Gujarat Titans (GT) were believed to have had the better core of three players prior to the start of it. When the bidding process concluded though, there were question marks aplenty of the Titans and their batting unit in particular.

So much so that most experts and the general public pit them nowhere close to qualification. It didn't help that Jason Roy, a bona fide T20 match-winner and one of the steals of the auction, withdrew before the start of the tournament.

The glorious uncertainties of cricket - and T20 to be more specific - would unfold over the course of the Titans' debut season as they scripted an epic fairytale as the most dominant team, eventually lifting the trophy. And they so nearly pulled off a title defense in 2023, only for Ravindra Jadeja to break their hearts in the final.

A lot transpired in the build-up to the 2024 season, with Hardik Pandya returning to Mumbai Indians (MI), Shubman Gill assuming captaincy for the first time and Mohammed Shami, their lead pacer and a new-ball behemoth, ruled out altogether. It spelled potential trouble for the 2022 champions but one felt they still had enough to make a fist of things for the playoffs.

While they are very much in contention halfway through their IPL 2024 campaign, their discombobulating batting display against the Delhi Capitals (DC) on Wednesday pointed towards a mean reversion that perhaps many saw coming. Except, it has taken three seasons in the making.

---

Gujarat Titans don't have the most intimidating batting lineup

This has always been the case on paper. Cricket isn't played on it though and the Titans showed just why in their first two seasons. The bottom line, however, doesn't change - their bowling was always their stronger suit and had the ability to defend totals that were just below par if required.

That said, the Titans stepped up with the bat in 2022 and 2023. At the forefront of it was Gill raising his own bar with his T20 game, having scored 483 runs at a strike-rate of 132.32 in 2022 and 890 runs at a strike-rate of 157.80 in an all-time great campaign the next year.

There were performers elsewhere too, however. In 2022, Pandya tallied 487 runs while David Miller 2.0 whipped up 481 runs in a stellar campaign. Wriddhiman Saha too did his bit up top and got GT off to quick starts, while Abhinav Manohar and B Sai Sudharsan also impressed in patches in their debut season.

Oh, and then there was Rahul Tewatia - the man who raised eyebrows aplenty when the Titans went all out for him at the auction but who would go on to vindicate it with one ice-cool finish upon another.

The next season, things just got better. Pandya, despite not having his best season, still averaged over 31 and struck at a rate of 136.75. Vijay Shankar had an outstanding campaign as he took down pace at will, Sudharsan raised his own game by a few notches and Miller continued to enjoy his spectacular remontada.

Things have been different this year, though. Gill is clearly having to shoulder bulk of the run-scoring responsibility and the moment he's dismissed, the innings tends to go pear-shaped. The one time GT posted a massive score - 199 against the Punjab Kings (PBKS) - Gill was unbeaten on 89. While the Titans couldn't defend that score successfully, the fact that their captain has scored 31, 36 and 72 in each of their wins this season points to a direct correlation and possible causation effect between his returns and the team's success.

He scored eight against Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in pursuit of 207, a similar score against DC last night and 19 against the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) with a target of 164 in front of his team. GT won none of those games.

Cricket is not a one-man sport and over-reliance on an individual is never a good sign. Sudharsan and Tewatia are the only two batters to have scored in excess of 100 runs this season for GT but the former's scoring tempo has often come under the scanner.

Miller and Saha haven't been able to reprise their heroics from the last two seasons while injuries haven't helped their cause either. Shankar has looked woefully out of touch and the heist against the Rajasthan Royals (RR) needed Rashid Khan to pull off something special.

Gill has averaged 39.33 in the powerplay across seven matches this season at a strike-rate of 132.58, which isn't shabby by any stretch for a man who has to carry the batting lineup on his shoulders. That the Titans still have the worst scoring rate in the powerplay (7.66) and fifth-lowest average (32.20) in the same phase this season sums up the lack of support coming Gill's way and in turn, the struggles compounding the team.

In short, it doesn't mean no worries. It's certainly not a time to sing Hakuna Matata!

---

Was this mean reversion always on the cards though?

There was a feeling that the Titans would have issues with the bat in their first two seasons. What transpired in reality was far from it but there was a sense of the team overachieving on that front.

By no means is that down to luck, however - clarity in roles, pacing their innings the way they did and ensuring they held their nerve in the crunch moments were a sign of a team that appeared seasoned campaigners and not first-timers to the league.

Due credit must be given to the Titans for the way they stepped up and made the best of their available resources in 2022 and 2023 - so much so that Manohar couldn't even get into the playing XI regularly enough despite carrying a reputation for being a marauding hitter of spin. But with so many components not firing now, it has all come apart together much like how it all came together in the previous two editions.

It doesn't help that they haven't invested enough in an overseas match-winner with the bat. The signing of Kane Williamson, who paces his innings in a manner similar to Sudharsan, thereby rendering the top-order too one-dimensional, doesn't quite add up. Nor does the absence of a backup for Miller who specializes in finishing the innings, although Matthew Wade has played the role really well for Australia in the last couple of years.

The solution to their Indian batters misfiring would have potentially been rejigging the combination by including an overseas batter. But for a team that is in need of a dynamic player at the top, they just don't seem to have options on that front. With Rashid a sure starter, Noor Ahmad doing well and Spencer Johnson also coming into his own, the overseas restriction also complicates matters and passes the buck back onto the Indian batters to raise their game.

Three wins in seven outings, six points and the worst net run-rate in the competition - this is surely not what the Titans would have envisioned at the start of IPL 2024 despite some question marks heading into the season. Most certainly not after having lost just four matches each in the round-robin phase of IPL 2022 and 2023.

What also doesn't help their cause to counter this inevitable mean reversion is shot selection akin to the contest against DC. From Gill himself gifting his wicket to Sudharsan taking off for a non-existent run, it summed up what has been a difficult season with the bat so far for the side.

As obvious as it may sound, there are lots to ponder over for Gill, head coach Ashish Nehra and assistant coach Gary Kirsten. The Titans most certainly are in the hunt for the playoffs and even five wins out of the next seven could do the job. But for their alarmingly poor net run-rate, they might want to win six.

If that is to unfold, a lot must go right with the bat - from better powerplay returns to a timely return to form for the likes of Saha, Manohar and Miller. This is the first time really that GT have been presented with a challenge of this kind and for a team that has very rarely had to activate a Plan B, it adds an intriguing layer to what has been a roller-coaster campaign so far.

A couple of good performances in their upcoming fixtures ought to get some more confidence rolling. But given the mid-table clutter they find themselves immersed in, they have to act right away lest the season reach a point of no return.

(With inputs from Rudransh Khurana).