When Gujarat Titans ran a torrid run in the first half of the season, winning only three of seven games, they were everything a modern T20 outfit should not be. The openers were not radicalised to hit the first ball out of the park; muscled batsmen did not pack the middle order; barring an erratic Jos Buttler none provoked fear; the bowling lacked beguiling trickery, the tactics seemed staid and the game was without the thrills and theatrics of the format. Nothing has changed. Sai Sudharsan and Shubman Gill bat with methodical rather than mad aggression; Buttler has been inconsistent; the humbler stock of Washington Sundar, Nishant Sindhu and Jason Holder comprise the middle order; Kagiso Rabada and his sidekicks predominantly deal in Test-match lengths; and they have hit the second-fewest sixes in the tournament. Yet, in a glorious paradox, they are where every side wants to be. Among the top two, effectively in the play-offs, and title frontrunners with a favourable draw on surfaces that could maximise their gifts. We have a new table …