Ahmedabad, April 3 – A strong bowling attack consisting of Kagiso Rabada, Prasidh Krishna, and Mohammed Siraj certainly looks intimidating, but this trio will face a tough challenge against "Boy Wonder" Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, who will be batting on a favorable pitch when Rajasthan Royals start as favorites against Gujarat Titans in an IPL match on Saturday.
Vaibhav Sooryavanshi's performance in the second season has been impressive, scoring 50 runs in 15 balls against Chennai Super Kings, although this was during a chase of 127 against a relatively weaker domestic attack.
On Saturday at the Narendra Modi Stadium, Sooryavanshi will once again try to put up a strong performance against the experienced bowlers, including Rabada, Siraj, and Prasidh.
For Gujarat Titans captain Shubman Gill, one would expect him to make prudent decisions, unlike his earlier performance in Mullanpur where Siraj was only given two overs and Prasidh was introduced in the 13th over.
On the batting front, the pitch at the Narendra Modi Stadium is expected to be conducive to aggressive batting, allowing batsmen to score freely. So far in the tournament, teams have favored chasing, and Rajasthan Royals, with their fast bowlers Nandre Burger and Jofra Archer, will likely target Gill, Sai Sudharsan, and Jos Buttler early in the match.
A key concern for the Gujarat Titans is their top three batsmen, who haven't consistently scored at a high strike rate. Captain Gill (39 off 27 balls) and Buttler (38 off 33 balls) struggled against Punjab Kings in Mullanpur. Sudharsan (13 off 11 balls) is also trying to regain his form after a recent injury.
The Titans' batting also relies on the performance of their middle-order batsmen, including Shahrukh Khan, Washington Sundar, and Rahul Tewatia. However, they haven't been consistently effective.
Washington Sundar, a highly skilled all-rounder who was also part of the T20 World Cup-winning squad, has been inconsistent in this format. Despite his impressive record, with 529 runs and a strike rate of 125 in 67 IPL games over the past decade, along with 40 wickets at an economy rate of 7.71, he hasn't been able to find a consistent role.
Against Rajasthan Royals, if the Titans bat first, they need to score at least 220 to give their bowlers a chance to dismiss Sooryavanshi. If they choose to chase, they need to restrict the opposition to below 200. Their performance in the death overs over the past two seasons has been inconsistent.
Rahul Tewatia, who rarely bowls for his state team Haryana, has also been underperforming. Shahrukh Khan faces challenges against good bowling, and it's surprising that a coach of Ashish Nehra's caliber hasn't found a suitable replacement.
As for the Rajasthan Royals, the team looks well-balanced on paper, despite concerns about meritocracy. Captain Riyan Parag, who is leading the team, is overlooking experienced players like Ravindra Jadeja, Yashasvi Jaiswal, and Dhruv Jurel.
The team's performance under pressure will be crucial this season, as it will determine their success under the new management led by Kal Somani, who will take over from the next year.
Squads:
Rajasthan Royals: Riyan Parag (c), Dhruv Jurel, Donovan Ferreira, Lhuan-Dre Pretorius, Ravi Singh, Aman Perala, Shimron Hetmyer, Shubham Dubey, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Ravindra Jadeja, Sam Curran, Adam Milne, Brijesh Sharma, Jofra Archer, Kuldeep Sen, Kwena Maphaka, Nandre Burger, Ravi Bishnoi and Sandeep Sharma.
Gujarat Titans: Shubman Gill (c), Sai Sudharsan, Kumar Kushagra, Anuj Rawat, Jos Buttler, Nishant Sindhu, Washington Sundar, Arshad Khan, Shahrukh Khan, Rahul Tewatia, Kagiso Rabada, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Ishant Sharma, Gurnoor Singh Brar, Rashid Khan, Manav Suthar, Sai Kishore, Jayant Yadav, Glenn Phillips, Jason Holder, Ashok Sharma, Luke Wood, Prithvi Raj Yarra, Tom Banton.
Match starts at 7:30 pm.