Key takeaways from Gujarat Titans' campaign in IPL 2024
Gujarat Titans endured a hard time in the 2024 Indian Premier League. GT, who won the title in 2022 and finished runners-up in 2023, managed just five wins and seven defeats this year. Two of their matches got abandoned due to rain. The Shubman Gill-led side finished eighth in the table with the NRR reading -1.063. Let's decode the key takeaways from their campaign.
Worst run rate in powerplay
GT lacked firepower at the top as the likes of Gill and Wriddhiman Saha struggled to score swiftly in the powerplay overs. As per ESPNcricinfo, GT were the only team with a powerplay run rate of under 8.2 this year (7.72). However, they also lost the least wickets in this phase (16). Notably, Saha couldn't touch the 40-run mark even once across nine outings.
Sai Sudharsan the only player with 500-plus runs
Sai Sudharsan finished as GT's top scorer in IPL 2024. He was the only player with 500-plus runs for the franchise. Sudharsan amassed 527 runs from 12 matches at 47.90 (SR: 141.28). Skipper Gill was the only other player with 400-plus runs (426 at 38.72). The game again Chennai Super Kings on May 10 saw both these batters score centuries.
Middle order also faltered
Notably, GT's run rate of 8.49 in the middle overs (7-16) was the second worst this year. Besides Gill and Sudarshan, David Miller (210 at 35) was the only other GT batter with 200-plus runs. Rahul Tewatia (188 at 26.85), Shahrukh Khan (127 at 18.14), Vijay Shankar (83 at 16.60) had highly disappointing campaigns.
Disappointing show from bowlers
GT's bowling was a letdown in 2024. Veteran pacer Mohit Sharma was the highest wicket-taker with 13 scalps at 32.69. However, his economy rate was a staggering 10.89. Ace spinner Rashid Khan finished his moderate campaign with 10 wickets at 36.70 (ER: 8.40). Meanwhile, pacer Umesh Yadav and spinner Noor Ahmad claimed eight scalps each for the franchise at 26.25 and 36.25 respectively.
GT's bowling in different phases
Notably, GT's economy rate in the final four overs this season read 11.24. The team conceded runs at 9.52 in the powerplay phase. In the middle overs (7-16), GT's economy was 9.15. Hence, the team struggled to contain runs across all phases. Overall, the Titans' tally of 79 scalps is the third least for a team this year.
