TACTICAL PREVIEW
Follow UsThe contest at the Narendra Modi Stadium on May 10 (Friday) features two teams with very peculiar problems and starkly different positions on the points table.
Gujarat Titans (GT) are currently sitting with the wooden spoon in their mouth with just four wins in 11 games, and the upcoming game against Chennai Super Kings (CSK) will be a do or die encounter for them.
Meanwhile, CSK are plagued with injury and absence issues left, right and centre in their bowling attack. While Deepak Chahar’s season ended immaturely, Matheesha Pathirana and Maustafizur Rahman had to return to their country to start the preparations for the upcoming T20 World Cup.
In their absence, Simarjeet Singh was impressed with 2/16 in his three overs against Punjab Kings in Dharamshala, and the yellow team expects an even better performance from him in the absence of their front-line quicks.
GT vs CSK Head-to-Head
Overall: Matches 6 | GT 3 | CSK 3
In Ahmedabad: Matches 2 | GT 1 | CSK 1
Venue Details
A clear chasing bias is evident at this stadium, as skippers have opted to bowl the first four times out of the matches, while teams chasing have won four out of five games at the Narendra Modi Stadium.
The scoring pattern here has remained stable, with the par score around 165-170. The Pacers have had more success here, with 67.9% of wickets falling to them.
Weather Conditions
The weather will remain hot and sunny, with the mercury crossing 40 degrees Celsius during the day. At game time, it will be much more pleasant with a gentle breeze.
Things to watch out for
Resurgence of Simarjeet Singh and Mitch Santner
Simarjeet enticed everyone with his pace and control in the game against PBKS, and he peppered Ashutosh Sharma with his seething bouncers. CSK would expect a similar performance from the man from Punjab.
Meanwhile, the Kiwi tweaked Santner got to play his first match this season in the same game as Simarjeet and picked up Shashank Singh’s wicket while giving just 10 runs in his three overs. He is a good option in the middle overs with the ball and adds good depth to CSK’s batting.
Can the Gujarat top order finally show up?
The reasons are evident. Wriddhiman Saha is having a forgettable season with the bat at the top, averaging just 15.1 after nine innings. Meanwhile, Shubman Gill has been inconsistent this IPL as he has got out between 0-9 runs on four instances and has crossed 50 only twice.
Additionally, Sai Sudharsan strikes a boundary only after every 6.6 balls in the powerplay on average and strikes at 114, which is amongst the lowest in all batters this season. This makes GT’s top order essential to score heavily and quickly against CSK.
Probable XIs
Gujarat Titans: Shubman Gill (c), Wriddhiman Saha (wk), Sai Sudharsan, Shahrukh Khan, David Miller, Vijay Shankar, Rahul Tewatia, Rashid Khan, Mohit Sharma, Noor Ahmad, Josh Little, Sai Kishore (IP)
Chennai Super Kings: Ruturaj Gaikwad (c), Ajinkya Rahane, Daryl Mitchell, Shivam Dube (IP), Moeen Ali, Ravindra Jadeja, MS Dhoni (wk), Mitch Santner, Shardul Thakur, Tushar Deshpande, Richard Gleason, Simarjeet Singh
Telecast and streaming details
The match will begin at 7:30 pm and will be streamed and telecasted on Jio Cinema and Star Sports, respectively.
