IPL

Pandya prowess guides Titans to IPL glory after shock Mumbai release

By Sports Desk May 29, 2022

"All good things must end," reasoned Hardik Pandya when he was released by Mumbai Indians last December.

Well Hardik, it seems the good times are back.

On Sunday, at their home Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad, Pandya captained Gujarat Titans to glory in the Indian Premier League final.

He took 3-17 with the ball and added 34 with the bat in an outstanding effort as the Titans beat the Rajasthan Royals by seven wickets with 11 balls to spare.

Pandya had struggled to stay fit and make an all-round contribution for Mumbai, whose four retentions ahead of the IPL auction were Rohit Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah, Suryakumar Yadav and Kieron Pollard.

How did that work out for them? Well, Mumbai finished bottom of the table, while Pandya picked up the trophy as skipper of newcomers Gujarat, whose maiden season could hardly have gone any better.

Mumbai's decision might – just might – have been a misjudgement.

We all make those. Just ask Yuzvendra Chahal.

What might have happened here if Chahal had clung to a glorious chance from the fourth delivery of the Titans' reply to the Royals under-par 130-9, rather than let the ball escape his flailing grasp?

Shubman Gill escaped that scare off Trent Boult's bowling and went on to carry his bat, cracking the match-winning six off Obed McCoy to finish unbeaten on 45, sharing in partnerships of 63 with Pandya and 47 with David Miller, whose rapid-fire 32 not out from 19 balls steered the Titans to the brink.

Rajasthan's total looked for all the world like a losing score, and it proved that way, but for a while the Royals had to take heart from the fact Mumbai posted 129-8 in the 2017 final and still won by one run against Rising Pune Supergiant.

Jos Buttler made a team-high 39 from 35 balls for the Royals in this game, and that took the Englishman to 863 runs for the season, the second-highest total by any batter in a single edition of the IPL after Virat Kohli's 973 runs in the 2016 season.

But the Royals were looking for more from their talisman, who removed his helmet and shielded his face as he left the field, knowing his team were looking to him to provide an onslaught late in the innings.

Who removed him? Pandya, of course, with Buttler looking to glance away a lively delivery to third man but instead feathering through to Wriddhiman Saha.

Gujarat celebrated with understandable gusto. Buttler hit four centuries in the IPL season, as many as all other players combined, carrying them this far. But he was gone after 12.1 overs, angry with himself, and nobody else stepped up in his absence.

The Titans began their chase slowly but kept wickets in hand.

A dishy delivery from leg-spinner Chahal eventually removed Pandya, edging to slip from a ball that turned extravagantly. Pandya was despondent, but the Titans skipper knew he could rely on others to complete the job.

Pandya finished the season with 487 runs, his highest total in an IPL season, but most importantly he now has a fifth title of his career in this competition, after four with Mumbai.

"For me, my team is the most important thing, whichever team I play for," he said at the end of the game.

The Titans were thanking their lucky stars that Mumbai decided Pandya was dispensable. On this, and the season's evidence, Pandya is anything but.

Related items

  • Spain 3-0 Serbia: Dominant Roja through to quarter-finals Spain 3-0 Serbia: Dominant Roja through to quarter-finals

    Spain cruised into the Nations League quarter-finals after Tuesday's comfortable 3-0 victory over Serbia.

    Luis de la Fuente's side eased to a routine win in Cordoba, qualifying for the knockout stages with two games to spare after Switzerland's 2-2 draw with Denmark guaranteed Spain a top-two spot in their group.

    Aymeric Laporte opened the scoring after just five minutes, heading into the far corner after a well-worked corner routine allowed Pedro Porro space to deliver.

    Mikel Merino's header from Alex Baena's cross was denied by the post soon after, before Spain missed a glorious chance to extend their lead after the interval.

    Porro's vicious shot was adjudged to have been handled by Veljko Birmancevic, but Alvaro Morata blazed over with a disappointing 54th-minute penalty.

    Captain Morata made amends just 11 minutes later, however, finishing with ease into the bottom corner after Fabian Ruiz profited on Serbia's slack attempts to play out from defence.

    Further misery followed for Serbia as Strahinja Pavlovic's last-man challenge on Mikel Oyarzabal was upgraded to a red card following a VAR review, before Baena curled the resulting free-kick past Predrag Rajkovic to seal another Roja win.

    Data Debrief: Unbeaten run continues for rampant Roja

    De la Fuente masterminded Spain's Euro 2024 triumph, with the best team deservedly triumphing at the tournament in Germany, but La Roja's impressive run started well before that.

    Spain are now unbeaten in their last 19 matches across all competitions (W17 D2), excluding friendlies, their best such streak since a 29-game run between June 2010 and June 2013 (W24 D5).

    This was a typically dominant performance from the hosts, who accumulated 2.9 expected goals (xG) compared to Serbia's meagre 0.37, as the away side struggled throughout.

  • Spain 3-0 Serbia: Dominant Roja consolidate quarter-final hopes Spain 3-0 Serbia: Dominant Roja consolidate quarter-final hopes

    Spain took a giant leap to securing Nations League quarter-final progression after Tuesday's comfortable 3-0 victory over Serbia.

    Luis de la Fuente's side will need just a point from their last two games in the competition next month after a routine win in Cordoba.

    Aymeric Laporte opened the scoring after just five minutes, heading into the far corner after a well-worked corner routine allowed Pedro Porro space to deliver.

    Mikel Merino's header from Alex Baena's cross was denied by the post soon after, before Spain missed a glorious chance to extend their lead after the interval.

    Porro's vicious shot was adjudged to have been handled by Veljko Birmancevic, but Alvaro Morata blazed over with a disappointing 54th-minute penalty.

    Captain Morata made amends just 11 minutes later, however, finishing with ease into the bottom corner after Fabian Ruiz profited on Serbia's slack attempts to play out from defence.

    Further misery followed for Serbia as Strahinja Pavlovic's last-man challenge on Mikel Oyarzabal was upgraded to a red card following a VAR review, before Baena curled the resulting free-kick past Predrag Rajkovic to seal another Roja win.

    Data Debrief: Unbeaten run continues for rampant Roja

    De la Fuente masterminded Spain's Euro 2024 triumph, with the best team deservedly triumphing at the tournament in Germany, but La Roja's impressive run started well before that.

    Spain are now unbeaten in their last 19 matches across all competitions (W17 D2), excluding friendlies, their best such streak since a 29-game run between June 2010 and June 2013 (W24 D5).

    This was a typically dominant performance from the hosts, who accumulated 2.9 expected goals (xG) compared to Serbia's meagre 0.37, as the away side struggled throughout.

  • Kane lauds 'fantastic' Tuchel but unaware of growing England links Kane lauds 'fantastic' Tuchel but unaware of growing England links

    Harry Kane remains unaware of ongoing discussions for Thomas Tuchel to take over as England manager but lauded his "fantastic" former head coach.

    The England captain enjoyed a record-breaking debut season for Bayern Munich under Tuchel last campaign, before the 51-year-old was dismissed and replaced by Vincent Kompany.

    Kane could reunite with Tuchel soon, however, amid widespread reports on Tuesday that the former Chelsea and Bayern boss has agreed to become England's permanent manager.

    Former Tottenham talisman Kane refused to delve too deep into the capabilities of Tuchel due to the ongoing discussions, but still spoke highly of his previous experience with him.

    "Until it's announced obviously I can't really comment, but we have to wait and see," the striker told Sky Sports in Germany.

    "Obviously, I know Thomas well from last year. [He is a] fantastic coach, fantastic person. I am sure the guys at the FA will contact me, when they know more about it."

     

    Kane scored 36 times in just 32 Bundesliga games last term under Tuchel, breaking the record for the most goals in a debut season in the competition.

    However, that was not enough to keep the former Paris Saint-Germain boss in his role at Bayern, who parted ways with Tuchel after his side finished third behind Bayer Leverkusen and Stuttgart.

    Tuchel still maintained an impressive 60.7% winning record across all competitions for Bayern (winning 37 out of 61 matches), a mark he only bettered with Borussia Dortmund (62.6%) and PSG (74.8%).

    It may be Tuchel's cup-competition expertise that has drawn England to his skills, though, leading PSG to their first Champions League final in 2020 and winning the same competition with Chelsea a year later.

    Indeed, Tuchel has managed 40 Champions League wins in 67 games, with his 59.7% winning ratio more than all but one England manager at major tournaments (World Cup and Euros) – Alf Ramsey had 66.7%.

    Time will tell if Tuchel, should he be appointed, can provide a similar winning formula at the 2026 World Cup, where Kane will be delighted to work with his former boss.

© 2024 SportsMaxTV All Rights Reserved.