Mumbai: Table-toppers Gujarat Titans would look to close the gaps in their top order and seal a place in the playoffs by returning to winning ways against an already out-fighting Mumbai Indians in an Indian Premier League game here on Friday.
GT got a timely wake-up call in an eight wicket loss om Punjab Kings in their last game, which broke their five-game winning streak.
An inconsistent batting department, especially top-order, has been the thorn in GT’s side throughout the tournament so far and it’s time for the IPL newbies to fix the problem that heads to the business end of the league.
Despite the loss, GT is well ahead of the 10-team standings with 16 points from 10 matches and a win on Friday would make them the first team to cement their place in the play-offs.
Young Shubman Gill failed to live up to expectations at the top, while veteran Wriddhiman Sahawhich was a great substitute for wrestling Matthew Wadegot a start before they became extinct.
B Sai Sudharsan, who has been the team’s weak link so far, was the only saving grace for GT in their last game where everyone failed and scored a 50-ball 65.
Skippers Hardik Pandya, David Miller, Rahul Tewatia and Rashid Khan, who had put in great performances and played a key role in GT’s success so far, have competed against Punjab.
But the quartet would be well aware of their importance to the side and look to the opportunity to make a comeback in what has been a remarkable opening season.
Hardik, who has been GT’s mainstay with 309 runs – the highest of all on the team, has had two rare back-to-back failures and would be desperate to get his mojo back.
Miller and the six-stroke duo of Tewatia and Rashid would also be eager to prove their worth after a rare failure.
In Mohammed Shami, Lockie Ferguson, Alzzari Joseph and Rashid, Gujarat has one of the deadliest attacks in this year’s IPL.
Despite going for runs in the final game, Shami is a class act with the new ball, while Ferguson’s ability to generate extra pace is a concern for any batting formation.
Rashid has been frugal with the ball but his inability to take wickets would be a concern for the side.
MI, on the other hand, is last and already out of the tournament after eight consecutive defeats.
But the Rohit Sharma-led side would breathe a sigh of relief after they finally secured their first win of the tournament, a five-wicket win over Rajasthan Royals.
Suryakumar Yadav was the star for MI in the batting division, which lacks a cohesive effort.
Rohit and Ishan Kishan’s horrendous run at the top continued as Kieron Pollard failed miserably to fill the role of finisher so far in the season.
Also on the bowling front, MI didn’t seem nearly at its best.
Jasprit Bumrah was frugal beforehand, but was not among the wickets that hurt the team the most.
Daniel Sams and Riley Meredith are patchy and with the exception of Bumrah, MI has no other quality bowler to rely on.
But back to winning ways, MI would be looking for party spoilers in their remaining games.
Teams (of):
Gujarat Titans: Abhinav Manohar, David Miller, Gurkeerat Singh, B Sai Sudharsan, Shubman Gill, Hardik Pandya (Captain), Rahul Tewatia, Vijay Shankar, Matthew Wade, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Wriddhiman Saha, Alzarri Joseph, Darshan Nalkande, Dominic Drakes, Jayant Yadav, Lockie Ferguson, Mohammed Shami, Noor Ahmad, Pradeep Sangwan, Rashid Khan, Ravisrinivasan Sai Kishore, Varun Aaron, Yash Dayal.
Mumbai Indians: Rohit Sharma (c), Anmolpreet Singh, Rahul Buddhi, Ramandeep Singh, SuryakumarYadav, Tilak Verma, Tim David, Arjun Tendulkar, Basil Thampi, Hrithik Shokeen, Jasprit Bumrah, Jaydev Unadkat, Jofra Archer, Mayank Markande, Murugan , Riley Meredith, Tymal Mills, Kartikeya Singh, Daniel Sams, Dewald Brevis, Fabian Allen, Kieron Pollard, Sanjay Yadav, Aryan Juyal and Ishan Kishan.
Match starts at 7:30 PM.
Also read: † Will Rohit, Rahul and Virat be India’s top 3 going to T20 World Cup?
