Follow UsThe two new teams Gujarat Titans and Lucknow Super Giants will make their Indian Premier League debut in the 2022 edition when they face off against each other at the Wankhede Stadium on Monday. It will be a clash of almost equal teams with two stars - Hardik Pandya and KL Rahul - in the lead.
Missing overseas players
Gujarat are without star opener Jason Roy who pulled out of the tournament due to bubble fatigue. They have signed Matthew Wade as his replacement who might get the nod in the team as a keeper-batter.
Lucknow's absentees list is slightly bigger. Marcus Stoinis is unavailable for four games while West Indies' Jason Holder will miss the first two matches.
Team Combination and Ground Details
Since 2020, the Wankhede Stadium has hosted 21 T20Is which have mostly been batting-friendly matches. Pacers have claimed the vast majority of 166 wickets from these matches, while spinners have been successful 61 times. However, they have a slightly better economy of 7.9 to pacers' 9 RPO. The average successful chase is 163 which explains the batting friendliness of the surface. So, its better to go with seven capable batters and three pacers and a couple of spin captions.
Team Suggestion
The team we've picked has a good mix of world-class batters and bowlers. But remember, while you could go for the above team, you also have the option of choosing your team from Cricket.com’s Fantasy Research Centre. You can use this tool to build your team with the help of algorithms. Then, based on your preferences, the platform will guide you through creating the ideal fantasy XI.
Captain Selection
KL Rahul has been the highest run getter in the IPL since 2018 with 2,548 runs at an average of 56.62 and a strike rate of 139.8. He almost single-handedly guided Punjab Kings to the playoffs who narrowly missed. His shift to Lucknow comes with a big baggage but the Indian opener's form in the tournament has been exceptional.
Our Criclytics Player Projector predicts Rahul to score 30-46 runs.
X-Factors
Dushmantha Chameera's rise in the world cricket has taken some time, but the Sri Lankan started to hit the stride, it was difficult to keep him down for long. Since 2020, the speedster has snared 52 T20 wickets from 45 innings at an average of 24.6. He can also swing the ball both ways at express speed which gives Lucknow the opportunity to pair him with different bowlers in their lineup.
Our Criclytics Player Projector predicts Chameera to claim 1-2 wickets.
Shubman Gill has had two excellent IPL seasons with KKR amassing 440 runs from 14 innings in 2020 and scoring 478 from 17 innings last year as his team reached the final. The young opener will be expected to shoulder the top-order weight once again with Jason Roy unavailable.
Our Criclytics Player Projector predicts Gill to score 24-36 runs.
Here are the top-10 picks as per Criclytics projected points
Probable XIs
Gujarat Titans: Shubman Gill, Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), Matthew Wade, Vijay Shankar, Hardik Pandya (c), Abhinav Manohar, Rahul Tewatia, Rashid Khan, R Sai Kishore, Mohammed Shami, Lockie Ferguson
Lucknow Super Giants: KL Rahul (c, wk), Evin Lewis, Manan Vohra, Manish Pandey, Deepak Hooda, Karan Sharma, Krunal Pandya, Ankit Rajpoot/Krishnappa Gowtham, Dushmanta Chameera, Avesh Khan, Ravi Bishnoi