Match Preview - GT vs RCB 45th Match, IPL

matching details

Gujarat Titans vs Royal Challengers Bangalore Ahmedabad, 3.30 pm IST (10 am GMT)

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Gujarat Titans have had a mixed season so far. In the previous game, against Delhi Capitals, their strategy was questionable: their best bowler of the day, Sandeep Warrier, bowled only three overs, while left-arm spinner R Sai Kishore took 4 for 33 against Punjab Kings. He was introduced late in the 19th over where he got 22 runs.

On Sunday, they will return to their home base and will also hope to get their tactics right, as they did in their previous afternoon game at the venue. In that match, against Sunrisers Hyderabad, assessing that conditions had become too slow once the ball became soft, GT used Afghanistan’s two spinners, Rashid Khan and Noor Ahmed, and then Mohit Sharma – whose 24 13 balls were on the cutter. Day – Between 7 and 14 overs. Three big wickets fell and only 53 runs were scored during that phase.

For RCB, who have just one left-handed batsman in their top seven, they can expect to be tested by spin. Apart from Rashid and Noor, GT also has the option of including Sai Kishore in the powerplay, providing pressure against Virat Kohli who has already averaged just 123.57 against the spinners as against 161.62 against the fast bowlers. Scored runs.

But in Rajat Patidar, RCB has a batsman who is not only in good form but also in excellent form. Scored 225 runs against spinners In this weather. RCB is also coming down confidence boosting victory Against Sunrisers, where their spinners Karn Sharma and Swapnil Singh made a significant impact.

GT will also want to improve their powerplay game with the bat: their run-rate of just 8.1 in the stage is the second lowest among all teams this season. A slow start from the top three Wriddhiman Saha, Shubman Gill and Sai Sudarshan has put pressure on the middle-order – which has several big hitters.

form guide

Gujarat Titans LWLWL
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Team News and Impact Player Strategies

GT had included Sai Sudarshan in place of Sandeep Warrier as an impact player in the last match and he is likely to deliver the opposite performance if he bats first. Azmatullah Umarzai has not performed well with bat or ball in the six matches so far, and with ample bowling options in his side, will he try to get Kane Williamson back at No. 4?

Gujarat Titans XII: 1 Shubman Gill (captain), 2 Wriddhiman Saha, 3 Sai Sudarshan 4. Azmatullah Umarzai/Kane Williamson, 5 David Miller, 6 Shahrukh Khan, 7 Rahul Tewatia, 8 R Sai Kishore, 9 Rashid Khan, 10 Noor Ahmed, 11 Mohit Sharma , 12 Sandeep Warrier.

RCB included left-arm spinner Swapnil Singh as an impact player in place of Rajat Patidar in the second half of the game against SRH and the move paid off. Swapnil dismissed Aiden Markram and the dangerous Heinrich Klaasen in the double-wicket over and gave RCB the lead. Barring any injury concerns, the visiting team is unlikely to make any changes to their line-up.

RCB XII: 1 Virat Kohli, 2 Faf du Plessis (captain), 3 Will Jack, 4 Rajat Patidar, 5 Cameron Green, 6 Dinesh Karthik, (wicketkeeper) 7 Mahipal Lomror, 8 Karn Sharma, 9 Swapnil Singh, 10 Lockie Ferguson, 11 Mohammed Siraj , 12 Yash Dayal

in the headlines

Shubman Gill He hasn’t had his best consistent performances this season: he’s coming into this game with scores of 6, 35 and 8. Their slow starts have also hurt GT’s run rate in the powerplay. But with GT returning to their home base, one of Gill’s favorite places to score, can he get his team off to a strong start? Having scored 833 runs in just 16 matches in the IPL at this position, he averages over 64.

Virat Kohli Scored 51 off 43 balls against SRH, his third half-century of the season, but it was an innings of two halves. After scoring 23 runs in his first 11 balls, he took 32 balls to score the next 28 runs, struggling against left-arm spinner Shahbaz Nadeem as well as the left-arm seam pair of Jaydev Unadkat and Natarajan, who bowled at a slow pace. Bowled from. balls. In this year’s IPL, Kohli has scored 155 runs with 35 fours in the powerplay, but has scored 123 runs in the middle overs with only 13 fours. GT will look to take advantage of this by introducing the spin early against Kohli, who has a strike rate below 140 against each of Rashid, Sai Kishore and Noor.

pitch and conditions

Players will face a hot afternoon with temperatures reaching 40 degrees. GT suffered a loss in its last outing at the venue heavy defeat, folded for 89 runs, which Delhi Capitals achieved within nine overs. In the last afternoon’s play in Ahmedabad, GT’s bowlers combined to restrict SRH to 162 for 8, which the hosts achieved with five balls to spare.

statistics matter

Rashid has an excellent record against the three leading batsmen of RCB in T20. He has dismissed Kohli twice in eight meetings, while Faf du Plessis and Dinesh Karthik have fallen to him three times in nine and eight meetings respectively.
RCB have conceded more than 60 runs in the powerplay in six of their nine matches so far in this IPL.
While Saha has lost to Mohammed Siraj three times in six meetings, Gill has a strike rate of 159 against the RCB fast bowler.

Shruti Ravindranath is sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo