As the two teams square off in the IPL here on Sunday, the defending champion Gujarat Titans will be aiming for a hat-trick of victories, while Kolkata Knight Riders, fresh off their thrashing of Royal Challengers Bangalore, will be eager to prove the victory was no fluke.
Apart from having a home advantage, the Gujarat Titans have the players to succeed, as has been shown in their first two matches.
Sai Sudarshan emerged as an unlikely hero in the match against Delhi Capitals, shattering the opposition’s total with a 48-ball 62. If their opening match against Chennai Super Kings provided insight into young Shubman Gill’s form with the bat (he scored a 36-ball 63 in the thrilling five-wicket victory), the match against Delhi Capitals produced an unlikely hero in Sai Sudarshan.
KKR may struggle on the road despite having two young and effective batsmen in the lineup and a bowling attack that has veteran fast bowler Mohammed Shami, captain Hardik Pandya, and the dexterity of Afghan spinner Rashid Khan.
With centuries in all three forms this year, Gill is in top form, and the 23-year-old is driven by the desire for even more success.
Gill has created a strong combination with opener Wriddhiman Saha that, on any given day, can handle the greatest bowling assaults in the IPL and generously profit from the powerplay overs.
Although only participating in seven first-class matches, Sudarshan has two hundreds to his name, with his greatest score coming for Tamil Nadu at 179. The IPL allows him the chance to further demonstrate his skill in the shortest format.
The batting order seems to be set, with Rashid Khan showcasing his batting abilities in full measure last year and Rahul Tewatia virtually usually hitting for maximums. Moreover, David Miller demonstrated his continued excellent health by hitting an undefeated 16-ball 31 against Delhi Capitals.
While players like Shami, Rahid, and Alzarri Joseph have been successful, with the Indian pacer emerging as the top wicket-taker with five takeaways in the two games, the bowling stalwart will need to address the inability to contain runs in powerplay overs before the match against the two-time IPL champions.
On the other side, KKR must first solve a challenging challenge before facing Gujarat Titans on the pitch.
As usual skipper Shreyas Iyer was injured and Bangladesh all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan withdrew, Jason Roy was brought in to give the team a lift. But, it is still unclear how KKR can accommodate British opener Joe Root after the success of young Afghan wicketkeeper Rahmanullah Gurbaz at the top.
Gurbaz beat Punjab Kings with a fast 22-run total, while KKR fell short by seven runs (DLS method). The 21-year-old, though, was a surprise in the match against RCB, laying the groundwork for a 200-plus total with a valiant fifty before Shardul Thakur’s fireworks propelled the side to a whopping 204.
Roy is most likely to take Gurbaz’s spot.
However, the 81-run victory over the RCB, helped by Shardul’s all-around performance, Suyash Sharma’s sensational debut, who took 3/30, and the brilliance of slow bowlers Varun Chakravarthy (4/15) and Sunil Narine (2/16), will give captain Nitish Rana enough confidence to enter the match with a winning attitude.
Squads:
Yash Dayal, Mohammed Shami, Darshan Nalkande, Noor Ahmad, Urvil Patel, Rashid Khan, Wriddhiman Saha, R Sai Kishore, Sai Sudharsan, Pradeep Sangwan, Dasun Shanaka, Vijay Shankar, Mohit Sharma, Shivam Mavi, Shubman Gill, Odean Smith, Rahul Tewatia, Matthew Wade, and Gujarat Titans are the players on the team.
Kolkata Knight Riders: Nitish Rana (c), Vaibhav Arora, Lockie Ferguson, Harshit Rana, Venkatesh Iyer, Narayan Jagadeesan, Kulwant Khejroliya, Litton Das, Mandeep Singh, Sunil Narine, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Jason Roy, Anukul Roy, Andre Russell, Rinku Singh, Tim Southee, Suyash Sharma, Shardul Thakur, Varun Chakravarthy, David Wiese, Umesh Yadav.