IPL 2022 team of the tournament: Hardik Pandya inspires and Jos Buttler bludgeons

Gujarat Titans beat Rajasthan Royals in final to win Indian Premier League

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  1. Jos Buttler (Rajasthan Royals) Kumar Sangakkara might have had a mental block when he said he couldn’t remember anyone in history bat as well as Buttler did this season. But Virat Kohli in 2016 apart, he was not far wrong Photo by Saikat Das / Sportzpics for IPL

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  2. KL Rahul (Lucknow Supergiants) Two more centuries for arguably the IPL’s most consistent batter of recent times – and one of its most dapper, too. Photo by Ron Gaunt / Sportzpics for IPL

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  3. Rajat Patidar (Royal Challengers Bangalore) When Virat Kohli extols your virtues, you must be doing something right. Patidar’s form in the playoffs was Buttler-esque. Photo by Saikat Das / Sportzpics for IPL

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  4. David Miller (Gujarat Titans) Unfancied by Rajasthan, but already loved by his new expansion franchise. The three consecutive sixes he hit to take his side to the final will live long in the memory. Photo by Saikat Das / Sportzpics for IPL

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  5. Liam Livingstone (Punjab Kings) Typically savage. The Englishman hit the biggest six of the tournament at 117 metres, and kept a strike rate of a massive 182. Getty Images

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  6. Hardik Pandya (Gujarat Titans). A measured and inspirational captain. Who knew? Cutting ties with Mumbai Indians must have been hard for a childhood fan of the franchise, but he has thrived in his new environs. Photo by Deepak Malik / Sportzpics for IPL

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  7. Wanindu Hasaranga (Royal Challengers Bangalore). Repaid the vast investment RCB lavished on him with a sparkling first season. The Sri Lankan leg-spinner took 26 wickets in the campaign. Photo by Deepak Malik / Sportzpics for IPL

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  8. Harshal Patel (Royal Challengers Bangalore). Backed up his breakout 2021 campaign, when he was the purple cap winner and player of the series, with more excellence. Nineteen wickets, and an economy rate of 7.66. AFP

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  9. Mohsin Khan (Lucknow Supergiants). The left-arm seamer only played nine games for Lucknow, but he took 14 wickets and, most eye-catchingly, maintained an economy rate of less than a run a ball. Photo by Ron Gaunt / Sportzpics for IPL

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  10. Yuzvendra Chahal (Rajasthan Royals). Switched RCB red for Rajasthan pink and immediately settled at his new home. Ended the tournament with the purple cap as the leading wicket taker. Photo by Ron Gaunt / Sportzpics for IPL

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  11. Umran Malik (Sunrisers Hyderabad). This season will be chiefly memorable for the batting Jos Buttler, plus the emergence of perhaps India’s fastest ever bowler. Photo by Deepak Malik / Sportzpics for IPL

Debutants Gujarat Titans were crowned Indian Premier League champions on Sunday after they beat Rajasthan Royals by seven wickets in the final in Ahmedabad.

Opting to bat first, 2008 champions Rajasthan never got going and posted a below-par 130-9 with Jos Buttler, this IPL's leading scorer, topscoring for them with a rather subdued 39.

Gujarat captain Hardik Pandya (3-17) led by example with the ball, dismissing counterpart Sanju Samson, opener Buttler and Rajasthan's middle-order lynchpin Shimron Hetmyer.

Pandya shone with the bat too, scoring 34 and forging a 63-run stand with Shubman Gill to help Gujarat overcome a slow start to their chase.

Opener Gill remained unbeaten on 45, sealing Gujarat's victory with a six and with 11 balls to spare.

South African David Miller made a quickfire 32 not out for Gujarat in the low-scoring final in front of more than 100,000 fans.