IPL 2022 Final, GT vs RR: 'Titans' of Gujarat brace up for 'Royal' fight from Rajasthan's rockstars

IPL final between Gujarat Titans and Rajasthan Royals is about this and much more. When IPL started over two months back, nobody would have believed that two captains walking out for toss in the title clash will be Hardik Pandya and Sanju Samson. 'Remember the Titans', a 2000 Hollywood film headlined by Denzel Washington is considered one of the best sports films on the proverbial underdog story, which always has a capital. It is not known if Titans skipper Hardik has watched it but for him and head coach Ashish Nehra, this journey of two months has been nothing short of spectacular. They have made a lot of people eat a humble pie because many, including experts, termed them a team of no-hopers post auction.

A team that looked like a rag-tag outfit with only a few good players like David Miller, considered past their sell-by date, or one-match wonders like Rahul Tewatia, it didn't really look good on paper. But then you wouldn't call cricket a "game of glorious uncertainties" if everything would be decided on paper. A fit-again Hardik took to leadership like fish takes to water and showed the way with his performances and the reason why he will always be an asset for Indian cricket. Miller, who played his best cricket at least five years back, showed his 2.0 version that stunned one and all. Tewatia showed that those five sixes in Sharjah wasn't a mere flash in the pan.

Read AlsoIPL 2022: Playing every game has allowed me to settle in my role, says Gujarat Titans' David Miller

Enjoying by far the best of his nine Indian Premier League seasons so far, the 32-year-old South African has scored 449 runs in 15 games at an average of 64.14 to become the top run-scorer for Gujarat Titans in this edition of the league.

Rashid