---
type: story
title: "Gujarat Titans: Three Finals in Five Seasons, One Title"
description: >
  Gujarat Titans were a brand new IPL franchise in 2022. They won the title in their
  debut season. Then they reached two more finals in five years. No expansion franchise
  in T20 history has started better — or shown up more consistently when it mattered.
tags:
  - IPL
  - team
  - history
  - records
status: active
last_verified: 2026-06-25
timestamp: 2026-06-25
license: CC-BY-4.0
source_system: CricketStudio
source_boundary: public_open_data
canonical_page: https://okf.cricketstudio.ai/stories/gt-three-finals-five-seasons/
resource: https://okf.cricketstudio.ai/stories/gt-three-finals-five-seasons/
entity_id: cricketstudio:story:gt-three-finals-five-seasons
dataset_version: 2026-06-11
provenance:
  source: >
    GT IPL history: Cricsheet CC BY 3.0 (2022–2025 seasons) + CricketStudio IPL 2026 dataset.
    GT's 2022 title, 2023 final appearance, and 2026 final appearance confirmed via
    CricketStudio ipl-champions-history dataset and rcb-vs-gt-2026 story data.
    IPL 2026 final result: RCB won by 5 wkts (GT 155, RCB 156/5 in 18 ov).
  confidence: high
  notes: >
    GT debuted in 2022 expansion. GT: 3 finals in 5 seasons (2022, 2023, 2026).
    2024 and 2025 were non-final campaigns.
    For full GT season-by-season data, see canonical CricketStudio pages.
related:
  - ../stories/stars-who-finished-last.md
  - ../stories/rcb-vs-gt-2026.md
  - ../dossier/ipl-2022-expansion.md
  - ../dossier/ipl-champions-history.md
  - ../scorebook/players/shubman-gill.md
---

# Gujarat Titans: Three Finals in Five Seasons, One Title

## The Question Nobody Asked

Which IPL franchise has the best record in their first five seasons, measured by final appearances?

## What the Data Says

**Gujarat Titans — 5 seasons:**

| Season | Result |
|--------|--------|
| 2022 | **IPL Champions** (debut season) |
| 2023 | IPL Final — runners-up (lost to CSK) |
| 2024 | Group stage |
| 2025 | Group stage |
| 2026 | IPL Final — runners-up (lost to RCB by 5 wkts; GT 155, RCB 156/5 in 18 ov) |

*(Source: Cricsheet CC BY 3.0 for 2022–2025; CricketStudio IPL 2026 dataset)*

**GT in finals: 3 appearances, 1 title in 5 seasons.**

**Context — how other IPL franchises started:**

| Franchise | Debut year | Finals in first 5 seasons |
|-----------|-----------|--------------------------|
| Gujarat Titans | 2022 | 3 |
| Lucknow Super Giants | 2022 | 0 (through 2026) |
| Sunrisers Hyderabad | 2013 | 1 (won 2016, 4th season) |
| Deccan Chargers | 2008 | 1 (won 2009, 2nd season) |

**GT's batting spine:**

In IPL 2026, [Shubman Gill](https://players.cricketstudio.ai/players/shubman-gill) (732 runs, 45.8 average) and Sai Sudharsan (722 runs — from the stars-who-finished-last story) combined for 1,454 runs — more than any MI batter combination in the same season.

For GT's full season-by-season player data: [players.cricketstudio.ai/leagues/ipl](https://players.cricketstudio.ai/leagues/ipl)

## The Wow

Gujarat Titans joined the IPL in 2022 as part of the BCCI's expansion from 8 to 10 teams. The franchise fee was approximately $750M USD (publicly reported). That is a significant investment in an unproven entity that had never played a match.

Three finals in five seasons. One title in year one.

By comparison, Mumbai Indians took six seasons to reach their first title (2013). Chennai Super Kings reached the final in their second season (2011) and won. GT matched CSK's early dominance and, unlike CSK, did it without a roster built around a single defining player.

The 2026 final loss to RCB by 5 wickets (GT 155, RCB 156/5 in 18 overs) means GT now holds a 1-2 record in IPL finals. The 155 target was not enough. The path they took to get there — through a full 14-match group stage — shows the consistency the franchise has built in just five years.

## What It Doesn't Say

The 2024 and 2025 group-stage exits mean GT is not a consistent contender across all five seasons — their final-appearance record is clustered (2022, 2023, and then 2026). Three out of five does not mean three out of five in sequence.

GT's success is not fully explainable from batting alone. Their bowling setup, captaincy ([Gill](https://players.cricketstudio.ai/players/shubman-gill) as captain in multiple seasons), and auction strategy are factors that the aggregate data does not capture.

Whether GT's first-five-seasons record is the "best-ever expansion franchise start" in T20 franchise cricket globally requires comparing to other T20 leagues' expansion franchises — that comparative analysis is beyond this snapshot.

## Related Concepts

- [Stars Who Finished Last](../stories/stars-who-finished-last.md)
- [RCB vs GT 2026 Final](../stories/rcb-vs-gt-2026.md)
- [IPL 2022 Expansion](../dossier/ipl-2022-expansion.md)
- [IPL Champions History](../dossier/ipl-champions-history.md)
