Gujarat Titans were headed for a heavy defeat in their IPL 2023 match against Mumbai Indians before Rashid Khan saved them by an innings, reducing the margin.
It was a rare blip from the defending champions, who have become the picture of consistency in a short span of time and it is something they would like to show when they take on struggling Sunrisers Hyderabad in Ahmedabad on Monday evening.
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“We weren’t there as a group. We were pretty flat with the bowling as well. Didn’t have a clear plan or didn’t execute,” skipper Hardik Pandya had said after their fourth loss in 12 matches.
With the bat, the prolific top-order could not get going and despite Rashid Khan’s blunder at number 8, the Titans failed. The star spinner was back to his best with the bowling to end the season with his best figures.
The skilful Mohammed Shami had a rare day and will be expected to create magic with the new ball. Mohit Sharma, who was used in the middle and death overs earlier in the season, bowled with the new ball against Mumbai but the ploy didn’t work.
What: Gujarat Titans vs Sunrisers Hyderabad
When: May 15 (Monday)
Where: Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad
Time: Indian time at 7:30 pm
Sunrisers, on the other hand, will be at the mercy of other teams after losing to Lucknow Super Giants from a win-win situation. They could not defend 80 runs in the last six overs and Nicholas Pooran played a game-changing knock.
Sunrisers have been disappointed this season due to top-order failure and star bowlers not performing as per expectations. Anmolpreet Singh has replaced Mayank Agarwal at the top but is yet to make an impact.
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Rahul Tripathi has also not been on fire, scoring a total of 199 runs in 11 matches at a tremendous strike rate of 129.14. Captain Aiden Markram has scored 207 runs in 10 matches at a strike rate of 129.37.
Questions have also been raised over the conduct of fast bowler Umran Malik, who last played on April 29.
The positive has been the performance of Abdul Samad, who after years of promise is finally living up to his potential.
full squad
Sunrisers Hyderabad: Aiden Markram (c), Abdul Samad, Rahul Tripathi, Glenn Phillips, Abhishek Sharma, Marco Jansen, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Kartik Tyagi, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, T. Natarajan, Umran Malik, Harry Brook, Mayank Agarwal, Heinrich Klaasen, Adil Rashid, Mayank Markande, Vivrant Sharma, Samarth Vyas, Sanvir Singh, Upendra Yadav, Mayank Dagar, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Akeal Hosein and Anmolpreet Singh.
Gujarat Titans: Hardik Pandya (Captain), Shubman Gill, David Miller, Abhinav Manohar, Sai Sudarshan, Wriddhiman Saha, Matthew Wade, Rashid Khan, Rahul Tewatia, Vijay Shankar, Mohammed Shami, Alzarri Joseph, Yash Dayal, Pradeep Sangwan, Darshan Nalkande, Jayant Yadav , R. Sai Kishore, Noor Ahmed, Dasun Shanaka, Odion Smith, KS Bharath, Shivam Mavi, Urvil Patel, Joshua Little and Mohit Sharma.