For all the criticism around their auction picks, Gujarat Titans make a fairytale entry into IPL playoffs

IPL 2022 playoffs for newcomers Gujarat Titans, who were not given much of a chance by the critics following the mega auction in February this year. The Hardik Pandya-led Titans qualified with two league games remaining, thrashing Lucknow Super Giants by a massive 62 runs in what was one of the most commanding displays this season while defending a par total. Defending just 144, built largely on the efforts of young Shubman Gill's unbeaten 63, the Titans' self-belief was the key as they restricted their opponents to just 82, with spinner Rashid Khan accounting for four wickets and the likes of Yash Dayal and Ravisrinivasan Sai Kishore taking two wickets each.

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With 13 matches left to play now in the league stage of IPL 2022, there still remain as many as 8,192 possible combinations of results.

Gill conceded that not many people had given the side much of a chance coming into the season. "It feels great. Coming into the season, not many people gave us much of a chance. Not many people thought we'd qualify. But here we are, sitting on top of the table. It feels pretty great," said Gill, the 'Player of the Match'. The team that's made it a habit to come back from the death is now set to get two chances to qualify for the IPL 2022 final on debut. After the IPL mega auctions, people pointed at the Titans' batting. While the bowling looked pretty sorted, the batting looked weak, with David Miller's relative lack of runs in the past few IPLs and Gill's patchy form a concern.

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Rashid Khan took 4-24 as