Former England captain Kevin Pietersen finds echoes of the 2008 title-winning Rajasthan Royals team in Gujarat Titans, who have regularly found ways to win games in the 2017 IPL season.

The former swashbuckling batter believes the new newcomers, like the late Shane Warne’s 2008 RR side, aren’t the finest team on paper but have a “great mentality.”

Also read: IPL 2022: RCB win toss, opt to bat against GT

In only their first season, the Titans, led by India all-rounder Hardik Pandya, have emerged as the “team to beat.” They are currently atop the points table, having lost only one game in their last eight outings.

“At the moment, it looks like Gujarat Titans are going to be difficult to stop in the IPL. I didn’t see them being at the top of the table when I first saw their squad, but they are on a roll,” Pietersen wrote on Betway.

“It reminds me of Rajasthan Royals when they won the title under Shane Warne in 2008 – they weren’t the best side on paper but everybody knew what they were doing and they had a great mentality,” he added.

Also read: Rahul disappointed after LSG’s underwhelming show vs PBKS , praises Pandya

The Titans, who appeared to be short on resources in the lead-up to the season, have seen a variety of players win games for them.

“They are consistently finding ways to win, whether from a good, middling or bad position in games. When you have that winning mentality, it becomes very difficult to break,” he said.

“They’re not inhibited. They’re just doing what feels right instinctively. Look at Rashid Khan when he got them over the line against Sunrisers Hyderabad the other night. He just had this positive attitude and was able to pull it off,” he added. 

Also read: IPL 2022: Bowlers power LSG to 20 runs win over PBKS in a low scoring match

Kolkata Knight Riders have employed 19 players in nine games this season in an attempt to find the correct combination, and Pietersen believes it is “far too many,” adding that the former champions’ dressing room is filled with negative energy.

KKR tried four different opening combinations this season, but it didn’t pay off as the team lost its fifth game in a row earlier this week to fall to eighth on the points table.

Skipper Shreyas Iyer and pacer Tim Southee have both confessed that chopping and changing aren’t ideal, but the previous champions don’t have a choice.

Also read: IPL 2022: Punjab Kings pacer Kagiso Rabada’s fiery spell denies Lucknow Super Giants a big total

“I know that Mumbai Indians are having a shocker, but KKR are also in a dreadful way. They won three of their first four games and have totally lost it since then,” he wrote.

“They’ve used 19 players so far, which is far too many. For a franchise as big as them, it’s just a horrible state of affairs. That is a dressing room full of the opposite energy to Gujarat: negative, negative, negative.” Pietersen believes the defending champions have lost their “out of the box, innovative thinking” that propelled them to the finals last season.

“Last year, that run to the final was defined by out-of-the-box thinking. They had their analyst, Nathan Leamon, front and centre, sending signals out to the middle, and they seemed really innovative,” he concluded.