4 capped cricketers who won IPL 2022 with Gujarat Titans without playing a single match
Gujarat Titans (GT) captured the IPL 2022 trophy by defeating the Rajasthan Royals in the summit clash on Sunday, May 29. The Ahmedabad-based franchise became the second team to win the championship on their home turf. Hardik Pandya led the team to perfection as GT proved their doubters wrong and lifted the trophy.
One of the main reasons behind Gujarat Titans' success was that the team was not over-reliant on one or two players. Different players stepped up and delivered the goods for the team in different matches, proving the depth in their squad.
Interestingly, Gujarat Titans did not give a single game to four internationally capped cricketers during their glorious IPL 2022 season. Here's a list of those four players.
#1 Jayant Yadav
Jayant Yadav has played six Tests and two ODIs for the Indian cricket team. He has enormous domestic cricket experience under his belt, and before IPL 2022, he played 19 matches, scalping eight wickets.
Gujarat Titans did not use Jayant Yadav's services because they had Rashid Khan in the squad. The team management also picked uncapped spinner R Sai Kishore ahead of Yadav.
GT spent ₹1.7 crore to sign Yadav. It will be interesting to see if they retain him for the next IPL season.
#2 Gurkeerat Singh Mann
Gurkeerat Singh Mann has represented the Indian cricket team in three one-day international matches. He is a batting all-rounder who bats in the middle-order and bowls part-time spin. Ahead of IPL 2022, many fans expected Gurkeerat to bat in the top-order for the Titans.
However, the team management preferred Vijay Shankar, B Sai Sudharsan and Matthew Wade ahead of Gurkeerat. Since David Miller and Rahul Tewatia performed exceptionally well as finishers, there was no place for Gurkeerat in the playing XI this year.
#3 Rahmanullah Gurbaz
Afghanistan's wicket-keeper batter Rahmanullah Gurbaz joined the Gujarat Titans as a replacement for Jason Roy. Gurbaz has played nine ODIs and 20 T20Is for his nation. He was even a member of Afghanistan's ICC T20 World Cup 2021 squad.
Gurbaz is an explosive opening batter, but GT preferred experienced batters like Wriddhiman Saha, Shubman Gill and Matthew Wade ahead of him. The team management may hand him his maiden IPL cap next year.
#4 Dominic Drakes
Dominic Drakes is one of the luckiest players in IPL history. The Caribbean all-rounder has not played a single IPL match, but has won two IPL trophies. Last year, Drakes won the title with Chennai Super Kings after joining the team as a replacement for Sam Curran.
This year, Gujarat signed him for ₹1.1 crore but kept him on the bench for the entire season. GT's first-choice overseas pacer was Lockie Ferguson, with Alzarri Joseph being the second pick.
Drakes, who has played five T20I matches for West Indies, did not get a single game in IPL 2022 because both Ferguson and Joseph had memorable seasons.