Match details
Gujarat Titans vs Royal Challengers Bengaluru
Ahmedabad, 3.30pm IST (10am GMT)
Big Picture
Gujarat Titans’ season so far has been a mixed bag. In the last game, against Delhi Capitals, their tactics were questionable: Sandeep Warrier, their best bowler of the day, ended up bowling just three overs, while left-arm spinner R Sai Kishore, coming off 4 for 33 against Punjab Kings, was introduced as late as the 19th over where he was taken for 22 runs.
On Sunday, they will return to their home base and will also hope to get their tactics right, just like they did in their previous afternoon game at the venue. In that match, against Sunrisers Hyderabad, having assessed that the conditions slowed down considerably once the ball got softer, GT brought in legspinner Rashid Khan and left-arm wristspinner Noor Ahmed, and then Mohit Sharma – who bowled 13 cutters out of 24 balls on the day – between overs 7 to 14. Three big wickets fell and only 53 runs were conceded during that phase.
RCB, who have just one left-hand batter in their top seven, can expect a trial by spin. Apart from Rashid and Noor, GT also have the option to introduce Sai Kishore in the powerplay to provide the squeeze upfront against Virat Kohli, who has struck at just 123.57 against spinners as opposed to 161.62 against fast bowlers.
GT will also be looking to improve their powerplay game with the bat: their run rate in the phase is just 8.1, the second-lowest among all teams this season. The slow starts from the top three of Wriddhiman Saha, Shubman Gill and Sai Sudharsan has put the middle order – which has several big-hitters – under pressure to make up.
Form Guide
Gujarat Titans LWLWL
Royal Challengers Bangalore WLLLL
Team news and impact player strategy
Gujarat Titans
GT brought Sai Sudharsan in for Sandeep Warrier as the Impact Player in the last match; if they bat first, they are likely to do the opposite. Azmatullah Omarzai has not had great returns with the bat or ball in six matches so far, and with enough bowling options in their side, will they look to slot Kane Williamson in at No. 4?
Gujarat Titans XII: 1 Shubman Gill (capt), 2 Wriddhiman Saha, 3 Sai Sudharsan 4. Azmatullah Omarzai/ Kane Williamson, 5 David Miller, 6 Shahrukh Khan, 7 Rahul Tewatia, 8 R Sai Kishore, 9 Rashid Khan, 10 Noor Ahmad, 11 Mohit Sharma, 12 Sandeep Warrier.
Royal Challengers Bengaluru
RCB swapped in left-arm spinner Swapnil Singh as the Impact Player for Rajat Patidar in the second half of the game against SRH, and the move paid dividends. Swapnil removed Aiden Markram and the dangerous Heinrich Klaasen in a double-wicket over and gave RCB the upper hand. The visitors are unlikely to change their line-up barring any injury concern.
RCB XII: 1 Virat Kohli, 2 Faf du Plessis (capt), 3 Will Jacks, 4 Rajat Patidar, 5 Cameron Green, 6 Dinesh Karthik, (wk) 7 Mahipal Lomror, 8 Karn Sharma, 9 Swapnil Singh, 10 Lockie Ferguson, 11 Mohammed Siraj, 12 Yash Dayal
In the spotlight
Pitch and conditions
Players will be bracing for a hot afternoon with a peak of 40C.
In the previous afternoon game in Ahmedabad, GT bowlers combined to restrict SRH to 162 for 8, which the hosts then chased down with five balls remaining.
Stats that matter
- Rashid has a great record against RCB’s three key batters in T20s. He has dismissed Kohli twice in eight meetings, while Faf du Plessis and Dinesh Karthik have fallen to him three times in nine and eight meetings respectively.
- RCB have conceded over 60 in the powerplay in six of their nine games this IPL so far.
- While Saha has fallen to Mohammed Siraj three times in six meetings, Gill has a strike rate of 159 against the RCB pacer
Quotes
“I love to play fast bowling as well. I’m a top-order batsman, so I love [playing] both fast bowling and spinners. We have played a lot of domestic cricket on turning surfaces, so I think I have the ability to handle the spinners.”
RCB batter Rajat Patidar on his strong game against spin
Sruthi Ravindranath is a sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo
