🏏IPL 2023: Match 23 - RR vs GT on 16/04/2023 at 7:30 PM IST 🏏

🏏IPL 2023: Match 23 - RR vs GT at Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad on 16/04/2023 at 7:30 PM IST 🏏

Tag & Logo Credit: Sevenstreaks

The finalists of IPL 2022 and among the in-form teams in the 16th edition, defending champions Gujarat Giants and runners-up Rajasthan Royals will lock horns for the first time in IPL 2023. Barring a loss to Punjab Kings, which was only a narrow defeat, the Royals have been on the money so far in the competition with three victories. As have the Titans who have the same number of wins, and their only reversal came against Kolkata Knight Riders when they came up against a rampaging Rinku Singh.

Although they find themselves on the happier side of the points table, the Titans will be a bit concerned about the manner of their victories. They have been a successful chasing side, losing only once in 12 matches batting second but nine of those victories have come in the final over, including two this season. After the game against the Kings, skipper Hardik Pandya admitted that the Titans need to ensure they finish games earlier and not take them too deep.

The Royals, on the other hand, have been far more clinical which is why they are sitting atop the points table at the moment. Having battered Sunrisers Hyderabad by 72 runs in their opening game, they romped past Delhi Capitals by 57 runs. They somehow managed to avert an MS Dhoni special in the previous game but will now look to press forward and sustain the momentum.

Gujarat Titans vs Rajasthan Royals Pitch Report

The pitch at Narendra Modi Stadium looks good for batting. The new ball bowlers may get some movement off the surface but if the batters manage to survive that period, they will be able to score big. Run-scoring becomes easier as the game progresses.

Gujarat Titans vs Rajasthan Royals Weather Forecast

Clear skies will greet both sides on Sunday, with the temperature expected to range between 26 and 40 degrees Celsius.

Pitch and conditions

Since IPL 2021, only twice in nine occasions has a team successfully defended in Ahmedabad. The average first-innings winning score in this period is 175.

Gujarat Titans won by 37 runs

Gujarat Titans won by 7 wickets

Gujarat Titans won by 7 wickets

That pretty much sums up their only 3 encounters

Team watch:

Gujarat Titans

Yash Dayal was left out in favour of Mohit Sharma, who in turn bagged the Player of the Match award against the Kings. Vijay Shankar wasn't named in the initial XI, and was probably set to feature as an Impact Player but the Titans didn't need him in the last game. Should the Titans bat first against the Royals, he is likely to make the starting XI.

Tactics & Matchups: Rashid Khan and Mohit Sharma, between them, have dismissed Jos Buttler five times in the IPL and the Titans could look at using them in the powerplay. Rashid has also been effective against Devdutt Padikkal and Shimron Hetmyer, having bagged their wickets two times each. Mohammed Shami, too, could be handy against Hetmyer having dismissed him four times in 17 deliveries.

Probable XI: Wriddhiman Saha (wk), Shubman Gill, Sai Sudharsan, Hardik Pandya (c), David Miller, Rahul Tewatia, Vijay Shankar, Rashid Khan, Alzarri Joseph, Mohammed Shami, Joshua Little

Rajasthan Royals

Trent Boult missed the match against Super Kings due to a niggle but is expected to be back for this game. He is likely to replace Adam Zampa, possibly coming in as an impact player in place of Jos Buttler - similar to how the Royals used the strategy in the previous game - while Devdutt Padikkal might get the nod over Riyan Parag again.

Tactics & Matchups: Yuzvendra Chahal is a favourable match-up for the Royals against Pandya and David Miller - the legspinner has dismissed the GT captain two times while he has accounted for the South African left-hander's wicket three times. Miller has also not fared all that well against R Ashwin, having been dismissed by him two times, and has a strike rate of 115.38.

Probable XI: Yashasvi Jaiswal, Jos Buttler, Sanju Samson(c & wk), Devdutt Padikkal, Shimron Hetmyer, Dhruv Jurel, Ravichandran Ashwin, Jason Holder, Kuldeep Sen, Sandeep Sharma, Yuzvendra Chahal

Thank you for the thread Raji. 🤗

Both teams are good, best wishes to all players.

I prefer to support RR 😊

Toss and Impact Player strategy

Based on who bats and who bowls, Dhruv Jurel and Yuzvendra Chahal are likely to be the Impact Player swaps for Royals. Titans could use Josh Little and Vijay Shankar similarly.

Gujarat Titans

Bat-first XI (possible): 1 Wriddhiman Saha (wk), 2 Shubman Gill, 3 Sai Sudharsan, 4 Hardik Pandya, 5 Vijay Shankar, 6 David Miller, 7 Rahul Tewatia, 8 Rashid Khan, 9 Mohammed Shami, 10 Mohit Sharma, 11 Alzarri Joseph.

Bowl-first XI (possible): 1 Wriddhiman Saha (wk), 2 Shubman Gill, 3 Hardik Pandya, 4 Vijay Shankar, 5 David Miller, 6 Rahul Tewatia, 7 Mohammed Shami, 8 Josh Little, 9 Rashid Khan, 10 Mohit Sharma, 11 Alzarri Joseph.

Rajasthan Royals

Bat-first XI (possible): 1 Yashasvi Jaiswal, 2 Jos Buttler, 3 Devdutt Padikkal/Riyan Parag, 4 Sanju Samson (capt, wk), 5 Shimron Hetmyer, 6 Dhruv Jurel, 7 Jason Holder, 8 R Ashwin, 9 Sandeep Sharma, 10 Trent Boult/Adam Zampa, 11 Kuldeep Sen.

Bowl-first XI (possible): 1 Jos Buttler, 2 Yashasvi Jaiswal, 3 Sanju Samson (capt, wk), 4 Shimron Hetmyer, 5 Jason Holder, 6 Devdutt Padikkal/Riyan Parag, 7 R Ashwin, 8 Sandeep Sharma, 9 Yuzvendra Chahal, 10 Trent Boult/Adam Zampa, 11 Kuldeep Sen.

Stats that matter

• Shubman Gill is not fluent against Boult or Chahal. He has a strike rate of 98 against the pacer and 104 against the spinner.
• Sanju Samson enjoys facing Mohammed Shami: scoring 54 runs in 28 balls with only one dismissal.
• Shimron Hetmyer has faced Shami five times in T20s. He's been dismissed by Shami on four of those occasions.
• Hardik Pandya has been out for single digits in all his three innings this season.
• David Miller has been among the best IPL chasers recently. Since the start of IPL 2022, he has been out only twice in 11 innings in a chase. He averages 184 with a strike rate of 151 batting second in that period.

There are too many options for predictions in this match!! Whom to choose?

Did you know?

- Sanju Samson needs 54 more runs to become the first Rajasthan Royals player to reach the landmark of 3000 runs in the IPL

- Hardik Pandya, who has already taken 50 wickets in the IPL, needs 16 more runs to reach 2000 runs in the tournament. Only five other players have achieved the double of 2000-plus runs and fifty-plus wickets in the IPL and Pandya will become the youngest to do so.

Thanks for the tag Raji 🤗