NEW DELHI, Apr 3
Life after Hardik Pandya hasn’t been too bad after all for Gujarat Titans. Their new captain Shubman Gill has marshalled them to two wins in three games, with both the victories coming at home. They will look to make it three in three at home when Punjab boy Gill will captain Titans against Punjab Kings on Thursday. Azmatullah Omarzai has swung the new ball in the powerplay while Mohit Sharma has often been un-hittable at the death. The team had a rich Afghanistan flavour against Sunrisers Hyderabad, with Omarzai, Rashid Khan and Noor Ahmad all making it to the XI. They also have R Sai Kishore in their roster if they want to rejig the spin attack and unleash Spencer Johnson’s express pace on Kings, who had struggled against IPL’s newest pace sensation Mayank Yadav last weekend.
Kings had started their season with a win against Delhi Capitals at their new home in Mullanpur, but suffered back-to-back losses on the road in Bengaluru and Lucknow. Another defeat on the road will leave them even more vulnerable as a number of other teams have already hit the ground running.
Harshal Patel, for whom Kings had shelled out INR 11.75 crore, has been predictable with his slower balls, conceding at 11.41 runs an over. Rahul Chahar has also leaked runs and their spin attack, which also includes Harpreet Brar, doesn’t quite have the pedigree or experience of Titans’ spin attack. There’s no reason for Titans to mess with their winning combination unless they want to give Shahrukh Khan a franchise debut against his former side. Titans’ Impact Player Strategy has been fairly predictable with B Sai Sudharsan slotting in for one of the bowlers if they chase or vice-versa if they bowl first.
Probable XII: 1 Shubman Gill (capt), 2 Wriddhiman Saha (wk), 3 B Sai Sudharsan, 4 Azmatullah Omarzai, 5 David Miller, 6 Shahrukh Khan/Vijay Shankar, 7 Rahul Tewatia, 8 Rashid Khan, 9 Noor Ahmad, 10 Umesh Yadav, 11 Darshan Nalkande, 12 Mohit Sharma.
Kings have also been consistent with their Impact Player Strategy with Arshdeep Singh starting if they bowl first or Prabhsimran Singh starting if they bat first.
Probable XII: 1 Shikhar Dhawan (capt), 2 Jonny Bairstow (wk), 3 Prabhsimran Singh, 4 Jitesh Sharma (wk), 5 Sam Curran, 6 Liam Livingstone, 7 Shashank Singh, 8 Harshal Patel, 9 Harpreet Brar, 10 Kagiso Rabada, 11 Rahul Chahar, 12 Arshdeep Singh
Once upon a time, Mohit Sharma was MS Dhoni’s go-to seamer at Chennai Super Kings and then he even stopped Dhoni during his stint for the Punjab franchise. He then drifted away into the wilderness but is back in the IPL spotlight once again as Titans’ lead seamer, in the injury-enforced absence of Mohammed Shami. Coach Ashish Nehra and captain Gill will back him to bowl the difficult overs once again and handcuff Kings’ power-hitters.
Kagiso Rabada had a lean run in the SA20, managing only nine wickets in ten matches at an economy rate of nearly nine. At various points in the last IPL season, Kings had preferred Nathan Ellis ahead of Rabada, and though the South African quick bowled well at the Chinnaswamy Stadium this season, he is yet to properly fire like he can.
Stats that matter
Rashid has a strong head-to-head against Liam Livingstone in the IPL: three wickets in four innings for 26 runs in 19 balls.
Kings might stick with Rabada because he has dismissed Wriddhiman Saha three times in four IPL innings and Gill two times in eight innings while keeping the Titans skipper to 43 off 42 balls.
Gill has an excellent record against Kings in the IPL: 397 runs in ten innings at an average of 56.71 and strike rate of 138.81.
Shikhar Dhawan is one fifty away from drawing level with Virat Kohli as the second-most prolific half-centurion in the history of the IPL.
Pitch and conditions
The Ahmedabad track was a two-paced one in the most-recent afternoon game between Titans and Sunrisers. The black-soil surface offered plenty of purchase to the slower bowlers before the conditions became better for batting later in the evening. A red-soil pitch might be used for this match. Given the 7.30pm IST start, it might be easier for the batters to hit through the line on Thursday.
Quote
“Being a bowler, I want the side boundaries to be large, so I can use my variations better. So the conditions here are great from my point of view, and from the point of view of the team.”
