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    Thursday, November 21

    Vulnerable Titans face Sunrisers acid test

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    Vulnerable Titans face Sunrisers acid test

    Match particulars

    Gujarat Titans (GT) vs Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH)
    Ahmedabad, 1530 IST (1000 GMT)

    Massive image

    A plethora of subplots from exterior the cricket area might have helped Gujarat Titans elevate themselves to a come-from-behind win in opposition to Mumbai Indians of their season opener, however a 63-run defeat away in opposition to Chennai Tremendous Kings begs the query: are the Titans of 2024 championship materials?

    David Miller, for instance, has crossed 30 solely thrice in 15 innings this 12 months and averages 29. His strike charge of 119 this 12 months can also be his worst in 13 years, a steep drop from 2023 (135.2) and 2022 (147.2).

    One other barometer of the Titans’ efficiency is Rashid Khan. Of their wins – they’ve had 12 of these since 2023 – he comes away with an economic system charge of seven.35. However of their losses – seven in the identical interval – Rashid’s economic system charge skyrockets to 10.03. It reveals that when he struggles, they wrestle too. This was uncommon however since final 12 months’s match, he has leaked 9 runs an over roughly as soon as each three matches (6 out of 19; 5 of these 6 have been losses)

    And that is the place the problem lies as a rampaging Sunrisers Hyderabad arrive contemporary off a efficiency that rewrote IPL report books. Travis Head has his personal love story with Ahmedabad for the reason that ODI World Cup closing, Abhishek Sharma has carried his kind from the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy properly and Heinrich Klaasen is the one man to hit 50 T20 sixes this 12 months. With the Narendra Modi Stadium one of many nation’s finest surfaces for batters, the Titans will want somebody to fill the footwear of Mohammed Shami at each ends of their innings.

    The Titans, although, can hit again. Barring Pat Cummins, the Sunrisers pacers have gone at 11.93 runs per over in IPL 2024 and it’s an space the hosts can exploit, particularly their captain Shubman Gill. Ahmedabad is Gill’s favorite venue – 700 runs in 13 innings at a median of almost 64 and a strike-rate of just about 160 – and with solely 37 runs in two innings this season, he can be itching for a sizeable contribution.

    Crew information and affect participant technique

    Gujarat Titans

    The Titans are often predictable with their affect substitutions, so count on quick bowler Mohit Sharma and left-hand batter Sai Sudharsan to swap locations. Matthew Wade can also be out there after lacking the primary two video games taking part in the Sheffield Protect closing. Shahrukh Khan or Abhinav Manohar might be tempting choices within the center order.

    Possible XII: 1 Shubman Gill (capt), 2 Wriddhiman Saha (wk), 3 Sai Sudharsan, 4 Vijay Shankar, 5 David Miller, 6 Azmatullah Omarzai, 7 Rahul Tewatia, 8 Rashid Khan, 9 R Sai Kishore, 10 Spencer Johnson, 11 Umesh Yadav, 12 Mohit Sharma

    Sunrisers Hyderabad

    After excelling of their season opener, T Natarajan missed Sunrisers’ second sport with an unspecified niggle and his availability is unknown. Jaydev Unadkat, his alternative in opposition to Mumbai Indians, impressed together with his change-ups and will hold his place within the XI. Wanindu Hasaranga has additionally not but arrived in India.

    As for Affect Participant choices, Sunrisers might begin with medium-pacer Nitish Reddy or quick bowler Umran Malik if bowling first, with Travis Head changing them within the second innings. Washington Sundar is also a sensible possibility in opposition to left-hand heavy Titans.

    Possible XII: 1 Mayank Agarwal, 2 Travis Head, 3 Abhishek Sharma, 4 Aiden Markram, 5 Heinrich Klaasen (wk), 6 Abdul Samad, 7 Shahbaz Ahmed, 8 Pat Cummins (capt), 9 Bhuvneshwar Kumar, 10 Mayank Markande, 11 Jaydev Unadkat / T Natarajan, 12 Umran Malik

    Within the highlight

    In two innings, Vijay Shankar has scored 18 runs in 17 balls. He has not bowled both. In opposition to a high-scoring aspect like Sunrisers, the Titans might be tempted to play Shahrukh Khan as a substitute so as to add energy to the center order, particularly since he follows a consolidator like Sudharsan at No. 3. Shankar, although, enjoys dealing with Bhuvneshwar Kumar (16 off 5, strike charge 320) and Jaydev Unadkat (15 off 7, strike charge 214) in T20 cricket.

    Bhuvneshwar Kumar is but to take a wicket in his two IPL 2024 outings and has conceded 104 runs in eight overs. In opposition to each Kolkata Knight Riders and Mumbai Indians, Bhuvneshwar made promising begins to his spell however ended up leaking large runs within the demise overs. Because the senior-most bowler in a franchise the place he has performed since 2014, Bhuvneshwar must both discover wickets or get his runs down. Ideally, he’d wish to do each.

    Stats that matter

    Gill has traditionally struggled placing Bhuvneshwar away on the IPL, scoring solely 50 runs in 48 balls whereas being dismissed thrice in 9 innings. He additionally has a strike-rate of solely 94.4 in opposition to Unadkat.

    In 23 balls, Abhishek has hit Rashid for 3 fours and three sixes, averaging a boundary each 3.6 deliveries. His strike-rate in opposition to Rashid is 204 total and this IPL, he’s scoring at 226.

    Klaasen is hitting a six each 5.4 balls in 2024, behind solely Andre Russell’s ball-per-six ratio of 4.6. Fifty of his 53 sixes have come between long-off and deep backward sq. leg.

    Because the begin of IPL 2023, the workforce batting first has received six of the ten IPL video games performed in Ahmedabad.

    Pitch and situations

    Ahmedabad often presents a real batting floor with sufficient on provide to maintain pacers and spinners . Spinners also can use the lengthy sq. boundaries to good impact. The typical first-innings successful rating right here since 2021 within the IPL is 188. Within the final outing on the venue, the Titans defended 168 efficiently. Count on a scorching afternoon with a peak of 35 levels throughout toss time.

    Sreshth Shah is a sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo. @sreshthx

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