IPL 2022: "You know deep down that you have won these situations before" - Piyush Chawla on Gujarat Titans' "upper hand" on other teams

Indian spinner-turned-analyst Piyush Chawla feels Gujarat Titans' glut of come-from-behind wins gives them an "upper hand" over other teams going ahead in IPL 2022. He argued that when faced with "crunch situations" in crucial games, their players will be better prepared to hold their nerves, compared to their opponents.

With seven wins from eight games, the Gujarat Titans are at the top of the points table. Five of these wins have come in the last over.

In most of these matches, they have seemed down and out at the halfway mark. But they found special game-changing performances from different players who snatched wins from the jaws of the opposition.

Chawla was speaking to ESPNCricinfo ahead of the Titans' match against Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) on Saturday. The former India leg-spinner hailed the Gujarat Titans' non-reliance on just one or two players for clinching the important moments in every match.

He said that their confidence would be on "another level" with qualification looking "almost certain".

"In so many games they looked like they've lost but still won. When you win such games, you hold your nerves better in crunch situations of the big games because you know deep down that you have won these situations before. That's an upper hand. And it's also a great sign they have different match-winners every time."

Chawla spoke further about the success of Gujarat Titans this season:

"They are playing superb cricket. They are winning a lot of matches by clinching the small but important moments. Chasing 22 runs in the last over in one match, 19 in the other, winning from these situations takes the team's confidence to another level. The team is looking pretty good and a playoff spot is almost certain."

Mohammed Shami, Lockie Ferguson, Shubman Gill, skipper Hardik Pandya, David Miller, and Rashid Khan have all won 'Player of the Match' awards this season.

Wriddhiman Saha was likely to make it seven POTMs from seven matches for the Gujarat Titans' players against SunRisers Hyderabad. But the award went to Umran Malik for his magnificent five-wicket haul despite the fact that it came in a losing cause.

"The wickets make a lot of the difference" - Piyush Chawla on change of bowling patterns in RCB

Chawla also opined on Josh Hazlewood's rise and the slight dip in Harshal Patel's form in the RCB bowling attack. He attributed it to the pace and bounce-friendly wickets in Maharashtra, saying that they suit the Australian pacer more than his Indian counterpart.

"The wickets make a lot of the difference. There's good pace and bounce on these pitches so the slower deliveries which grip before reaching the batter aren't coming off. And that's Harshal Patel's strength. Batters are also prepared for his slower ones which are coming onto the bat nicely. Hazlewood, meanwhile, bowls the Test match length. He believes that if a ball can be successful in Tests, it can be successful in the T20s as well and he's proving it here. So pace and bounce are aiding him."

The RCB-GT match will kick off at 3:30 PM IST at the Brabourne Stadium on Saturday.