Two new franchises — Gujarat Titans and Lucknow Super Giants — became a part of the Indian Premier League from the 2022 edition and both of these teams went on to have a great season in their own rights.
Titans proved to be the best side in the season, beating old warhorse Rajasthan Royal in the final to clinch their maiden IPL title in their debut season. GT were the most dominant side with 12 wins from 16 matches and set the benchmark for everyone to follow. But if for a moment you could forget the ‘freak show’ they put up this season, Lucknow would emerge as your favorite side from IPL 2022.
Yes, they didn’t reach the final, but played some of the most eye-catching cricket of the season as they made their way to the playoffs. For a large part of the season, they were one of the two best sides in the tournament, if not the best. The KL Rahul-led side lost two of their last three league phase encounters and that severely dented their chances of reaching the final. One more victory from those two matches would have ensured a top-two finish in the points table, and two shots at the spot in the final.
Near-perfect pre-planning
Eventually, their season ended in the Eliminator with a defeat against Royal Challengers Bangalore but their odds-defying run to the playoffs in the debut season was a product of some great planning and brilliant execution. The planning started last year as soon as the RPSG Group shelled out a record Rs 7090 crore for the franchise — the highest ever bid for an IPL team.
Owner Sanjiv Gonka had previous IPL experience with the Rising Pune Supergiant team and following his principle of “hire the right kind of people for right job”, he quickly brought mentor Gautam Gambhir and coach Andy Flower onboard.
Lucknow Super Giants mentor Gautam Gambhir had a big impact on how the team performed in IPL 2022. Sportzpics
Gambhir has won two IPL titles with Kolkata Knight Riders in the past. He knows the local conditions, the local players and the league inside out. Flower is a proven tactician with the England national team.
KL Rahul, Marcus Stoinis and Ravi Bishnoi were drafted ahead of the auction. Getting Rahul, one of the most consistent batters and giving him the captaincy early on, spoke about the clarity the franchise had. Their greatest work though came in the auctions where they trumped most of the IPL regulars to assemble a team capable of fighting for the title.
The inclusion of Quinton de Kock, Krunal Pandya, Avesh Khan and Deepak Hooda provided them required variety and strength but it was the local picks like Ayush Badoni and Mohsin Khan that would go on to define their season.
Top performers
Rahul undoubtedly was the star player of the franchise, scoring 616 runs from 15 matches at a strike rate of 135.38. He has come under scrutiny for his 58-ball 79 in the Eliminator as LSG lost by 14 runs. Even in the game against KKR, where de Kock and Rahul made the IPL record partnership of 210 not out, he only made 68 off 51. There have been murmurs that his runs always didn’t help the team but one mustn’t forget that only 127 of his runs came in the losing cause. Whenever Rahul clicked, LSG won.
de Kock scored 508 runs from the opening slot at a strike rate of 149. He along with Rahul was the major reason that LSG more often than not had a good start in their debut campaign. Deepak Hooda scored 451 runs from 15 games at a strike rate of 136.66. His runs were worth their weight in the gold as LSG’s middle-order proved to be their weakest link.
Avesh Khan led the bowling charts with 18 wickets while Jason Holder (14), Bishnoi (13) and Krunal Pandya (10) chipped in with important scalps consistently but uncapped Mohsin Khan was undoubtedly the leader of their bowling. The left-arm pacer took 14 wickets in nine matches at a mind-boggling economy rate of 5.96. That sort of austerity is sorcery.
What went wrong
Chasing went wrong for LSG. Five of their six defeats came while chasing. On the other hand, seven of their nine wins came while batting first. Whenever the openers failed, the middle-order barring Hooda was found wanting. Badoni made a fifty on debut but his form tapered off as the season progressed. Stoinis, Krunal and Manish Pandey were a big disappointment in that respect.
The list though is much longer. Lower down the order, Holder also didn’t produce the sort of runs he is capable of and that put almost all the responsibility of run-scoring on the shoulders of Rahul, de Kock and Hooda.
What next?
There’s always room for improvement in every area for any side but LSG’s major immediate focus should be on fixing their middle-order and spin bowling issues. Bishnoi was drafted into the side ahead of the auction but couldn’t do a Wanindu Hasaranga or Yuzvendra Chahal (both spinners took over 25 wickets this season) for his side.
LSG could look to strengthen that area besides also bringing in a couple of middle-order batters who could keep the runs flowing even after a few setbacks.
All in all, it was a terrific debut campaign for LSG. The bar has been set higher by Titans but that is more an aberration than the norm. Reaching the Eliminator in the debut season, Rahul and Co, the management and support staff should be mighty proud.
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