Venue: Eden Gardens, Kolkata
Time: 7:30 PM IST
Average score at venue (1st inns): 157
Win percentage while batting first: 50%
Pitch conditions:
- With the iconic Eden Gardens in Kolkata hosting the knockout round of the Indian T20 Cricket League, the pitches can be expected to favour batsmen and spinners as the game progresses.
- But there also has been a change in the way pitches have behaved here — fast bowlers will be getting some assistance from the surface early on.
- The fast bowlers have a wicket-share of 66.37% while the spin bowlers have got only 33.63% of the dismissals here.
Weather prediction:
There are scattered thunderstorms expected in the city of Kolkata on Tuesday night when Gujarat and Rajasthan will face-off for the Qualifier 1. The temperature will be 33°C at the start of the game, which will drop down to 29°C towards the end. The humidity levels will be above 70% on Tuesday night in Kolkata.
HEAD-TO-HEAD RECORD (overall):
Matches played: -
Gujarat won: 1
Rajasthan won: -
No result: -
Top 3 players from Gujarat: Wriddhiman Saha, David Miller, Hardik Pandya
Top 3 players from Rajasthan: Yashasvi Jaiswal, Ravichandran Ashwin, Jos Buttler
Top picks for H2H/WTA contest (top 5 players each):
Top 5 players from Gujarat: Wriddhiman Saha, David Miller, Hardik Pandya, Rahul Tewatia, Rashid Khan
Top 5 players from Rajasthan: Yashasvi Jaiswal, Ravichandran Ashwin, Jos Buttler, Saju Samson, Yuzvendra Chahal
Q & A:
Fantasy tips and tricks: Should I pick more bowlers, batsmen or all-rounders?
The pitch at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata will be a completely fresh surface — unlike the other venues so far in the tournament which hosted a grand total of 70 league round matches. The recent years have witnessed the Eden Gardens in Kolkata to be a bowler-friendly venue for a large part of the game, owing to the changes that the stadium and the playing area has undergone. But the batsmen and the spinners are expected to get the majority of support from the surface. Thus, a balanced side consisting of in-form batsmen, pacers and spinners will be the right approach to make a fantasy cricket playing XI.
Fantasy tips: From which team should I pick more players in my XI? Which team is stronger?
This is the playoffs round of the Indian T20 Cricket League 2022 tournament — all 4 participants are formidable outfits and there is none who can be labelled favourites. Any side can beat any opposition among Gujarat, Rajasthan, Lucknow and Bangalore. Gujarat finished at the maximum 20 points in the league stage to grab the first spot in the points table in their maiden season, whereas Rajasthan finished 2nd with 18 points in their kitty. Both the teams have the right mix of players and a tremendously talented bench strength, replete with like-for-like players. For this contest, a balanced team with players from both Gujarat and Rajasthan will be the right idea of making the fantasy cricket playing XI.
MORE INFORMATION: The organisers have announced that a Super Over contest between the competing sides will be held in order to determine the winner in case the match — including the tournament final — is disrupted by bad weather and no play is possible during the stipulated time. It has also been announced that if the ground conditions in Kolkata and Ahmedabad — the two venues for the playoffs — continue to remain unplayable, the league standings will be used to identify the winning side.
PLAYERS’ FORM: This is where the players will be desperate, keen and motivated to bring out their best. Jos Buttler, who is the tournament’s leading run scorer with 629 runs in 14 matches, has had three innings of no impact. His scores have been 2, 2, and 7 and there is no doubt in saying that the best batsman in the competition is due a big score. On the other hand, Gujarat captain Hardik Pandya did bounce back to make his fourth half-century of the season but they will have to be collective in their efforts with the bat. Among bowlers, there will be pressure on both the camps to come up with proper plans and their execution given that the conditions and pitch will favour the batsmen. The likes of Yuzvendra Chahal, Ravichandran Ashwin and Rashid Khan will have big roles to play.
Changes in squad (if any): NO
LIKELY XIs:
GUJARAT: Wriddhiman Saha (wk), Shubman Gill, Hardik Pandya (c), Matthew Wade, David Miller, Rahul Tewatia, Rashid Khan, Sai Kishore, Yash Dayal, Mohammad Shami, Lockie Ferguson.
RAJASTHAN: Jos Buttler, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Sanju Samson (c&wk), Shimron Hetmyer, Devdutt Padikkal, Ravichandran Ashwin, Riyan Parag, Trent Boult, Yuzvendra Chahal, Prasidh Krishna, Obed McCoy.
FANTASY XI: Jos Buttler (vc), Wriddhiman Saha, Hardik Pandya (c), Sanju Samson (wk), David Miller, Rahul Tewatia, Ravichandran Ashwin, Yuzvendra Chahal, Mohammad Shami, Trent Boult, Sai Kishore.
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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