Venue: Brabourne Stadium, Mumbai
Time: 7:30 PM IST
Average score at venue (1st inns): 174
Win percentage while batting first: 36.36%
Pitch conditions:
- The Brabourne Stadium pitch has traditionally been a batting-friendly one, but low scores in the last 2 out of 3 matches have alerted all teams across the board.
- The pacers can be expected to dominate at the Brabourne Stadium where they have a wicket-share of 61.07% while the spin bowlers have taken 38.93% of the wickets.
Weather prediction:
The mercury will remain static at 30°C on Friday night in Mumbai after a long day of summer with clear skies all around the day. The humidity levels will range between 70-80%.
HEAD-TO-HEAD RECORD (overall):
Matches played: -
Gujarat won: -
Mumbai won: -
No result: -
Top 3 players from Gujarat: Sai Sudharsan, Rashid Khan, Mohammed Shami
Top 3 players from Mumbai: Suryakumar Yadav, Tim David, Tilak Varma
Top picks for H2H/WTA contest (top 5 players each):
Top 5 players from Gujarat: Sai Sudharsan, Rashid Khan, Mohammed Shami, Hardik Pandya, David Miller
Top 5 players from Mumbai: Suryakumar Yadav, Tim David, Tilak Varma, Hrithik Shokeen, Riley Meredith
Q & A:
Fantasy tips and tricks: Should I pick more bowlers, batsmen or all-rounders?
It will be important for both the teams to be cautious while batting first since low scores have been recorded at this venue in the recent past. The pitch remained a batting-friendly surface right from the start of the tournament but of late it has shown support towards seam bowlers, with the ball moving dangerously both ways. However, if the pitch turns out to be a batting-friendly one — like it did for the most recent clash here between Gujarat and Bangalore — even the big totals in the range of 170-180 may not be safe. It will thus be important to have an extended batting line-up followed by in-form fast bowlers.
Fantasy tips: From which team should I pick more players in my XI? Which team is stronger?
In what would have been a perfect world for the five-time title winners, Mumbai would have gone about their business in Indian T20 Cricket League 2022 with the same authority and command that Gujarat have shown this year. Hardik Pandya will take the field at the Brabourne Stadium as the leader of the most successful team this year, against his former side which has been struggling on all fronts and have barely recorded one win from 9 matches so far. On the other hand, Gujarat have one foot already in the knockouts round with 8 wins in 10 matches giving them 16 points already. Gujarat are indeed the stronger side when pitted against Mumbai given the way they have performed so far.
MORE INFORMATION: The campaign in the Indian T20 Cricket League 2022 is over for Mumbai but an early end to the race for the final four also gives them a chance to rebuild for the next season, which will also bring them their first-choice fast bowler in Jofra Archer. But for now, R Sharma and Co would do well if they focus their efforts on finding form and general bonding as a new group of players. At the same time, Gujarat have shown incredible spirit and persistence to be the best in business and they would aim yet another win against a top side — Mumbai still are winners of five editions which no other team in the past has done.
PLAYERS’ FORM: For Gujarat, there is a clear concern in the form of their opening batsman Shubman Gill who has gone into another slump, having recovered well to score 84 and 96 in consecutive matches. The right-handed opening batsman has not looked out of sorts as his scores might suggest, but he has lacked overall discipline to hang around long enough to give himself a chance of making a big score. There will be some concerns around the form of Hardik Pandya as well, since he is the glue that holds their batting together. Mumbai, on their part, will want captain R Sharma and senior all-rounder Kieron Pollard to fire with the bat — something that has been long awaited from them.
Changes in squad (if any): NO
LIKELY XIs:
GUJARAT: Shubman Gill, Wriddhiman Saha (wk), Hardik Pandya (c), Sai Sudharsan, David Miller, Rahul Tewatia, Rashid Khan, Pradeep Sangwan, Alzarri Joseph, Lockie Ferguson, Mohammad Shami.
MUMBAI: Rohit Sharma (c), Ishan Kishan (wk), Suryakumar Yadav, Tilak Varma, Kieron Pollard, Tim David, Daniel Sams, Hrithik Shokeen, Kumar Kartikeya, Jasprit Bumrah, Riley Meredith.
FANTASY XI: Ishan Kishan, Wriddhiman Saha, Hardik Pandya (c), Suryakumar Yadav (vc), Tilak Varma, David Miller, Tim David, Daniel Sams, Riley Meredith, Mohammad Shami, Rashid Khan.
Devarchit Varma is a cricket writer and journalist with an experience of more than a decade, having worked at Hindustan Times (newspaper) and CricketCountry (website). Along with covering international and domestic cricket, he has also interviewed several current and former top players such as Rohit Sharma, Steve Smith, Dale Steyn, Michael Hussey, Jacques Kallis, Brendon McCullum, Shane Watson, Lasith Malinga and many more. He has also worked in other beats as a journalist in Bollywood (Reliance BigOye) and IT (SiliconIndia) industries.
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