The speed gun radar will be functioning overtime when Lockie Ferguson’s 150 click thunderbolts meet their match in rising pace sensation Umran Malik’s toe-crushers as table-toppers Gujarat Titans clash with close-on-heels Sunrisers Hyderabad in the IPL on Wednesday.
The IPL newcomers are currently in the midst of a dream inception year with six wins from seven games at the halfway stage and are placed on top of the table.
However, one area where the Titans need to lift their game is Powerplay batting as Shubman Gill (207 from 7 games) has gone off the boil after his 96 and Wriddhiman Saha, replacing Matthew Wade, has been downright mediocre.
In fact, Saha’s propensity to waste balls upfront (dismal SR of 83 in 2 games) in both the matches that he played so far has forced skipper Pandya (295 from 6 games) and David Miller (220 from 7 games) to up the ante even before they can take some time to play themselves in.
Abhinav Manohar and Rahul Tewatia would also like to be more consistent in the finishers’ role rather than being like a flash in the pan for a match or two.
Teams (From): Gujarat Titans: Hardik Pandya (c), Abhinav Manohar, David Miller, Gurkeerat Singh, B Sai Sudarshan, Shubman Gill, 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.
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