A twist in the tale - a significant one at that - changed the fortunes of Gujarat Titans in its third season which was the last year.

The Titans was the new kid on the block like Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) in 2022 with a private equity company buying the Ahmedabad franchise in 2021. The new franchise chose Hardik Pandya, Shubman Gill and Rashid Khan before forming its team at an auction.

As expected, the franchise named Pandya captain-a perfect move that gave the Gujaratis a live-wire personality of their own-and in what a way he shepherded the team to win the title, right in the first season. Pandya himself performed his role to perfection-with the bat, ball, and as a fielder, and of course, as a leader, showing the way. The Titans got the better of Rajasthan Royals to lift the cup.

The next year, the Titans reached the final; however, they could not outsmart Chennai Super Kings and Ravindra Jadeja. But reaching the final in their second season and attempting to defend the title was, in itself, a terrific performance.

Pandya got the best out of each player, and his way of easing pressure on his teammates worked wonders. Pandya, Gill, David Miller, Wriddhiman Saha, and Rahul Tewatia packed a punch, with useful contributions from others. The likes of Mohammed Shami, Rashid Khan, Lockie Ferguson, Yash Dayal, and Pandya himself delivered with the ball.

Its bowling looked even better with Shami and Khan joined by seamer Mohit Sharma and Afghanistan's chinaman bowler Noor Ahmad in season 2. They had the look of an unbeatable combination before CSK tripped them in the final.

The batting lineup changed a bit, but with Gill leading the show with 890 runs and Sai Sudharsan displaying good form, all the positive things happened despite losing Kane Williamson in the first match of the second season.

The significant change happened the following year when Pandya returned to the MI ranks as captain after a trade-off between the Titans and Pandya's first franchise team. The Titans lost a very inspirational individual, and the burden fell on Gill.

The Titans saw Sudharsan's stock rise, and Gill also scored, but the team suffered due to a lack of a few more big scorers. In the absence of Shami-who was in rehabilitation after the World Cup final-the likes of Mohit Sharma and Rashid Khan also couldn't get going.

For the fourth season, the Titans retained Gill, Khan, Sudharsan, Tewatia, and Shahrukh Khan, spending Rs. 51 crore. They had Rs. 69 crore to spend at the auction in Jeddah and made successful bids for Jos Buttler, Washington Sundar, Mohammed Siraj, Kagiso Rabada, Sherfane Rutherford, Ishant Sharma, Prasidh Krishna, Gerald Coetzee, Sai Kishore, and several more homegrown talents like Nishant Sindhu, Mahipal Lomror, Kumar Kushaghra, Manav Suthar, Gurnoor Singh Brar, Jayant Yadav, Kulwant Khejroliya, Karim Janat, and Anuj Rawat. They also bought Kiwi Glenn Phillips in the accelerated round on the second day of the auction after he went unsold on day one.

To start with, much will be expected from Gill and Buttler, who should open the innings. Sudharsan has earned the right to bat next, followed by Phillips and Shahrukh Khan. The Titans' right- and left-hand finger spin should be handled by the Tamil Nadu pair of Sundar and Sai Kishore.

It will be a work in progress for Gill, who will have to juggle his resources but settle on a batting order quickly. The captain will have variety to choose from in the bowling department, with Siraj, Rabada, and spinner Sundar doing a lot in the first six overs of the powerplay.

The Titans, with a new majority shareholder and owner in Torrent Power, have the class and caliber to make the playoffs. However, Gill will need to be at his best-as both batter and leader-in the first seven games.