Hardik Pandya-led Gujarat Titans thumped Rajasthan Royals at the Narendra Modi Stadium on Sunday by 7-wickets to lift their maiden IPL title. Rajasthan opted to bat first, but they never got going, scoring a below-par 130-9 with Jos Buttler at the top of the IPL leaderboard with a modest 39. Gujarat’s Hardik Pandya (3-17) set up a brilliant show with the ball. And also did a tremendous job with the bat, scoring 34 runs and setting up a 63-run partnership with Shubman Gill to start Gujarat off on the right foot. With 12 balls to spare, Gill finished the match off in style, hitting a six, and remained unbeaten on 45 to seal Gujarat’s victory, with backup from the in-form David Miller, who scored 19-ball 32* to chase the set target of 131 runs.
Here’s everything you should know about this year’s IPL – facts, poor umpiring instances, the epic GT journey, and more.
Everything you should know about IPL 2022
IPL 2022 has been a hell of a year because many things that happened this season were unprecedented. So, dig in to know everything about IPL 2022.
IPL 2022 Interesting Auction Facts
IPL 2022 held its fifth mega auction after three years.
A total of 1214 players registered for the auction, but only 590 got selected. Out of 590 players, 370 are Indians, and 220 are from 14 different countries.
A 17-year-old Noor Ahmad from Afghanistan was the youngest player in this year’s auction. Also, South Africa’s 42-year-old leg spinner Imran Tahir was the oldest.
The existing teams retained a total of 27 players this year, while the two debutant teams acquired three players each.
This year’s maximum amount each team could spend was Rs 90 crore on player acquisition.
BCCI increased the overall squad limit to 32, out of which only 8 were allowed to be filled up by overseas signings.
After being unsold in the first round, David Miller was acquired by the Gujarat Titans, which eventually turned out to be the best decision for the team, as David Miller played extremely well throughout the season.
IPL 2022’s Poor Umpiring Instances
- DC vs RR Clash: In one of the matches between Delhi Capitals VS Rajasthan, Rovmen Powell from Delhi Capitals hit three consecutive sixes in the final over. However, the next ball was waist high-full toss, which was wrongfully not given a ‘no-ball’. This changed the whole scenario of the match, and thus Delhi Capitals ended up losing the game. Consequently, Rishab Pant and the coaching staff got so furious that they even asked the players to come back to the pavilion to forfeit the game. Regardless, things were brought under control, and fines were imposed on Rishab and the coaches.
- RCB vs SRH Clash: In a recent match, RCB batted first, and during the 11th and 12th over, the umpires failed to notice that Rajat Patidar had taken a single in the last ball of the 11th player. However, much to everyone’s surprise, Faf du Plessis took the strike on the first ball of the 12th over. Umpires Bruce Oxenford and Nitin Menon were unaware of this situation. Nobody was aware of this blunder until some Twitter users pointed out this grave mistake.
- MI vs KKR Clash: In one of the games against KKR, Rohit Sharma was initially given a ‘not-out’ on the last ball of the first over when the ball passed his edge and struck his thigh-pad and went straight into the hands of Sheldon Jackson. The on-field umpire judged it correctly and gave it not out. However, KKR challenged his decision, and third umpire Bruce Oxenford viewed the whole scenario through DRS and asked the on-field umpire to change his decision. Hence, Rohit Sharma was given out. According to cricket laws, on-field calls should be upheld during unreliable situations.
- RR vs KKR Clash: In a game between RR Vs KKR, Prasidh Krishna bowled the last over and kept the ball away from left-handers Nitish Rana and Rinku Singh. But the batters jumped outside the off-stump to hit the balls. However, the on-field umpire paid no attention and gave wides and no balls.
Popular Game-Changing Scenarios in IPL 2022
- RCB VS RR: In the semi-finals, Dinesh Karthik (wicketkeeper) lost the easiest catch of Jos Buttler, which could have helped RCB to make it to the finals.
- MI VS GT: In the game between MI VS GT, Hardik Pandya and Rahul Tewatia’s runouts were the game-changer, which eventually made Gujarat Titans lose the game against MI.
- GT Vs PBKS: Rahul Tewatia smashed two consecutive sixes and thus rescued the team by defeating Kings XI Punjab with six wickets.
- RR VS KKR: Yuzvendra Chahal’s first hat trick and maiden five-wicket haul changed the game for Knight Riders. Otherwise, they were on fire that day to chase the big score.
Fascinating Facts of IPL 2022
IPL 2022 had the grandest finals compared to other seasons as big stars like A. R Rahman and Ranveer Singh performed on the finale night. Moreover, the event was also attended by 1,04,859 people, which is the highest of any other season.
Gujarat Titans became the first debutant team to qualify for the finals. (Check out the IPL winner list of all seasons)
Jos Buttler broke Virat Kohli’s record for hitting most boundaries in IPL history.
Yuzvendra Chahal became the first player to claim a hat trick in this nail-biting IPL 2022 season.
Umran Malik bagged the fastest delivery award in all 14 matches, thus earning a whopping Rs 14 lakh. Moreover, he was also got selected for the Indian team. However, this record was broken by Gujarat Titans pacer Lockie Ferguson during the summit IPL 2022 clash against the Royals, where he bowled at the pace of 157.3kmph.
This season saw no super over.
Mumbai Indians became the first-ever team to lose the first 7 matches in the history of IPL.
Gujarat Titans IPL 2022 Journey
Gujarat Titans’ journey is worth noting as the debutant team put up a stellar show this whole season. With some of the great players entering the auction pool, Gujarat Titans acquired players like Hardik Pandya, Rashid Khan, and Shubham Gill as their first picks and built the rest of the team around them. Furthermore, Gujarat Titans filled the pace bowlers’ spot by taking Mohammad Shami, Lockie Ferguson, and Alzarri Joseph. All the bowlers performed well and took wickets when they needed to. Many eyebrows were raised regarding the batting lineup as Matthew Wade, David Miller, and Wriddhiman Saha were brought into the team. But David Miller and Wriddhiman Saha silenced their haters by batting incredibly well during the whole season.
Hardik Pandya being elected as captain was another questionable decision made by Gujarat Titans as he had no captaincy experience. Despite his inexperience, he proved his mettle as a great leader and as a player who scored runs and picked a few wickets. Another player who took the IPL by storm was Rahul Tewatia. He played the role of a perfect finisher and rescued his team twice.
Read: The Four Reasons why Gujarat Titans were successful in IPL 2022
Rajasthan Royals IPL 2022 Journey
Rajasthan Royal was the champion in the first season of IPL. Since then, they have been on a dry spell. But with this season, they made a smashing comeback and made it to the finals against the debutant Gujarat Titans. The ‘Men In Pink’ were on fire to rewrite the history and pay homage to their first Royal – Shane Warne, who died in March 2022. Under the leadership of 27-year-old Sanju Samson, the team put up a great show play this entire season. However, they failed to take home the trophy.
Jos Buttler was in full form this season and earned the Orange Cap for making the highest number of runs. Yuzvendra Chahal and R Ashwin had on and off days, but when they recovered their form, they made sure to take on the opposition. Moreover, Shimron Hetmyer became a player to hit the most runs in IPL 2022’s death over. Also, he played well in almost every match. And this is how Rajasthan Royals made it to the finals and silenced their spectators with their beautiful gameplay.
What to look out for in IPL 2023?
IPL 2023 will be one of the most anticipated seasons because few teams like Gujarat Titans and Lucknow Supergiants performed extremely well. So all eyes will be on these teams. While on the contrary, it would also be great to see if Chennai and Mumbai can make a smashing comeback.
Final Words
This IPL 2022 season was full of nail-biting moments, astonishing wins, and the smashing beginning of two new debutant teams who left their mark on the IPL history.
Author Bio
A fun-loving person who loves writing to express herself, Heena is someone who would read philosophical books in her free time and watch some of her comfort shows.
