Gujarat Titans

However, the side did not stop there. It first acquired Ashish Nehra, widely regarded as the funniest Indian cricketer around, as their head coach before securing the services of Gary Kirsten as a trainer – the same man that led India to the World Cup in 2011. The outpouring of love was visible almost instantaneously on GT Twitter and it increased exponentially post the IPL auction where the side recruited the likes of Lockie Ferguson, Mohammed Shami and David Miller.

Nevertheless, despite the star names in the squad, critics were wary of the balance of the side and eliminated them from contention before the tournament even began. Undeterred, the Gujarat Titans players started off with three wins on the trot, including an opening night triumph against the much-more fancied fellow debutantes Lucknow Super Giants. Eventually, IPL Gujarat Giants won 10 of its 14 group-stage games to top the table.

Through these games, the side enjoyed several history-making moments, be it bowling out LSG for a shambolic 82 or Rahul Tewatia’s two sixes against the Punjab Kings to chase down 12 off the last two deliveries. A Rashid Khan blitzkrieg also made quite the headlines as the all-rounder led the side to a famous win against four-time champions Chennai Super Kings.

Facing Rajasthan Royals in the qualifier, David Miller hit a hat-trick of sixes to chase down 16 int he final over thus securing his side a berth in the final. Asked to bowl first against the same opposition in the summit clash, the IPL Gujarat Titans fought all odds to restrict the Royals to a paltry 130 before cruising to the target with nearly two overs to spare. Thus, the Gujarat Titans team became the first to win the championship in their debut season since their fellow finalists had pulled it off in 2008.

At the IPL auction for the new session, Gujarat Titans cricket made only a few improvements to the GT squad 2023 such as acquiring Kiwi skipper Kane Williamson for INR 2 crores and contracting Shivam Mavi for INR 6 crore. The side also let go off Lockie Ferguson, the bowler with the second-quickest delivery in IPL history at 157.3 kph, as well as emerging Afghanistan wicket-keeper Rahmanullah Gurbaz.

CEO: Arvinder Singh

Director of Cricket: Vikram Solanki

Head Coach: Ashish Nehra

Mentor: Gary Kirsten

Assistant Coach: Abdul Naim

Bowling Coach: Aashish Kapoor

Assistant Bowling Coach: Mithun Manhas

Batting Coach: Gary Kirsten

Physiotherapist: Rohit Sawalkar

Strength and Conditioning Coach: Rajinikanth Sivagnanam

Performance Analyst: Sandeep Raju

Brand Ambassador and Mentor: Aditya Datta

Development and Performance Director: Vikram Solanki

Team Manager: Satyajit Parab

The Gujarat Titans cricket fanbase has grown leaps and bounds since their formation, title success in their debut season playing a huge role in boosting their popularity. Already having trendy characters in their dressing room that often make headlines and have a tremendous presence on social media such as Hardik Pandya and Rashid Khan, IPL Gujarat Titans have managed to form a highly competitive GT Twitter team that has aided them in their mission of becoming the country’s most loved cricket outfit.

The franchise already has 1.8 million followers on Instagram and 611K on Facebook, the latter being more than double of fellow debutantes Lucknow Super Giants. Meanwhile, GT Twitter has 414K followers as well, taking their cumulative social media following to nearly 3 million.

The main shirt sponsors of Gujarat Titans cricket are Ather Energy while the space on the chest is dedicated to advertising Capri Loans, right next to the team logo. Other associate and kit sponsors of the franchise include Jio, BKT, Dream11 and Kotak while the jersey itself is produced by EM.

• Hardik Pandya: Having already ascended to the role of India’s captain in T20Is following his exploits with the Gujarat Titans team, Hardik Pandya was instrumental in the side’s victory in the inaugural season. With the bat, he outscored the likes of David Miller and Shubman Gill while striking at over 130 and even contributed eight wickets with the ball, including three in the final in a man-of-the-match performance. Pandya was equally impressive in his captaincy despite little prior experience in the role on the big stage, with many crediting his man management skills and the side’s camaraderie as the biggest reasons behind the side’s triumph. 
• Rashid Khan: Arguably the best T20 player in the world for the past decade, the Afghan all-rounder made an instant impact on the side by scalping 19 wickets in his debut season for the franchise. Add to that his explosive strike rate of 200-plus, including a famous outburst against Chennai Super Kings at a crucial stage of the tournament, and it is easy to determine why the 24-year-old is indispensable to the team. Rashid already hs a mind-boggling 383 T20 appearances to his name while tallying an astounding 516 wickets and is bound to end up as the purple cap winner sooner or later.
• David Miller: After several frustrating seasons with the Punjab Kings where personal success did not translate to trophies for the team, Miller made the move to Gujarat and enjoyed his best season in the tournament to date. His 481 runs at an average of 68 and a strike rate of 142.72 were enough to make him the leader of the batting order, as the Proteas pulled off some miraculous finishes with his explosive hitting prowess to reinforce himself as one of the greatest white-ball batters of the present generation. The South African would be expected to return to the GT squad 2023 with renewed motivation and battle for the orange cap once again.