Venue: DY Patil Stadium, Navi Mumbai
Time: 7:30 PM IST
Average score at venue (1st inns): 172
Win percentage while batting first: 37.5%
Pitch conditions:
- The pitch at the DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai can be expected to be a balanced surface for both batsmen and bowlers, with spinners also expected to play a vital role in the contest. Teams will be looking to bat first here in case they win the coin toss.
- In the previous clash played here between Chennai and Bangalore on Tuesday night, both the teams scored heavily with the former scoring 216/4 and despite the latter side losing the game, the margin was of only 23 runs and they still scored more than 190 batting second.
- The wicket-share percentage for the fast bowlers is 61.8% while the spinners have claimed 38.2% of the dismissals here.
Weather prediction:
With a high of 37ºC in the afternoon, it will be a cloudy day in Navi Mumbai on Thursday with humidity levels ranging from 60-75%.
HEAD-TO-HEAD RECORD (overall):
Matches played: -
Rajasthan won: -
Gujarat won: -
No result: -
Top 3 players from Rajasthan: Jos Buttler, Devdutt Padikkal, Yuzvendra Chahal
Top 3 players from Gujarat: Shubman Gill, Hardik Pandya, Abhinav Manohar
Top picks for H2H/WTA contest (top 5 players each):
Top 5 players from Rajasthan: Jos Buttler, Devdutt Padikkal, Yuzvendra Chahal, Trent Boult, Shimron Hetmyer
Top 5 players from Gujarat: Shubman Gill, Hardik Pandya, Abhinav Manohar, Rashid Khan, Mohammad Shami
Q & A:
Fantasy tips and tricks: Should I pick more bowlers, batsmen or all-rounders?
The key factor here will be to have a long batting line-up along with bowlers who have been among wickets on a regular basis. For Rajasthan, Yuzvendra Chahal has been unstoppable whereas for Gujarat, Rashid Khan will carry the responsibility. Both Rajasthan and Gujarat have formidable players in their ranks and they have exceeded expectations as far as on-field performances are concerned. The Sanju Samson-led Rajasthan are sitting at the top of the points table with 3 wins in 4 matches whereas Gujarat saw their three-match winning run from the start of the competition ending in the contest against Hyderabad. The Hardik Pandya-led team is currently placed at the 4th spot in the points table.
Fantasy tips: From which team should I pick more players in my XI? Which team is stronger?
Rajasthan are undoubtedly the stronger team in comparison to Gujarat, for they have the depth and adaptability to eke out wins from toughest of conditions and situations. In the contest against Lucknow, despite their top order failing, Shimron Hetmyer and Ravichandran Ashwin produced a fightback with the bat. The form of the West Indian batsman has been a bonus for Rajasthan, who are awaiting one big knock from their captain Sanju Samson. On the other hand, the Gujarat batting is a lot about how Shubman Gill and Hardik Pandya fare — two of their most consistent batsmen. In the bowling department, both Rajasthan and Gujarat look evenly matched.
MORE INFORMATION: Rajasthan are at the top of the points table for the Indian T20 Cricket League 2022 and they will be expected to continue making most of their current form and momentum. On Thursday night, they will indeed take the field as the ‘favourites’ given the 4th-placed Gujarat finally cracked under pressure in their last match and lost to Hyderabad, which was their first defeat in four matches.
PLAYERS’ FORM: For Gujarat, Shubman Gill will be the key as he looked in red-hot form in his brief knock against Hyderabad, with his innings coming to an abrupt halt thanks to a one-handed stunner from Rahul Tripathi. Shubman Gill has notched scores of 84 and 96 in the outings before that, and he will be at the forefront of the Gujarat line-up, looking to get a big score. Matthew Wade seemed to be returning to form, whereas Hardik Pandya in the middle-order will keep any bowling attack on their toes despite the big shots from the Indian all-rounder drying up. For Rajasthan, the likes of Jos Buttler, Devdutt Padikkal and Shimron Hetmyer will be batting mainstays whereas their extremely lethal bowling attack will make this contest a must-watch.
Changes in squad (if any): NO
LIKELY XIs:
RAJASTHAN: Jos Buttler, Devdutt Padikkal, Sanju Samson (c&wk), Rassie van der Dussen, Shimron Hetmyer, Riyan Parag, Ravichandran Ashwin, Trent Boult, Yuzvendra Chahal, Prasidh Krishna, Kuldeep Sen
GUJARAT: Shubman Gill, Matthew Wade (wk), Sai Sudharsan, Hardik Pandya (capt), David Miller, Abhinav Manohar, Rahul Tewatia, Rashid Khan, Lockie Ferguson, Mohammed Shami, Darshan Nalkande
FANTASY XI: Jos Buttler (c&wk), Shubman Gill (vc), Devdutt Padikkal, Shimron Hetmyer, Hardik Pandya, Abhinav Manohar, Yuzvendra Chahal, Trent Boult, Kuldeep Sen, Rashid Khan, Prasidh Krishna.
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Rajasthan look to maintain winning momentum against dangerous Gujarat
In what promises to be a straight-forward shootout between Rajasthan’s bowlers and Gujarat’s batsmen, the Match No 24 of the ongoing Indian T20 Cricket League will have two of the most promising teams this yea locking horns at the batting-friendly DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai on Thursday night.
While Rajasthan are coming into this contest on the back of a narrow but thrilling 3-run win over Lucknow, Gujarat will be determined to make amends and put their best foot forward again following their maiden loss in the competition to Hyderabad.
Despite their biggest guns in the form of Jos Buttler, Devdutt Padikkal and Sanju Samson silenced early by Lucknow, Rajasthan fought back through a sturdy partnership of 68 runs for the fifth wicket between Shimron Hetmyer (59) and Ravichandran Ashwin (28) to put 165/6, and clinched the game by 3 runs courtesy their bowlers.
Trent Boult dealt early blows on Lucknow from which they could never really recover and their problems compounded with Yuzvendra Chahal’s strikes in the middle overs.
The debutant right-arm pacer Kuldeep Sen showed tremendous pedigree by not allowing Marcus Stoinis 15 runs from the final over, displaying the depth of talent and variation in the Rajasthan ranks.
Indeed, Rajasthan have one of the best bowling line-ups which has brought a lot of attention to the fact that how, one of the underperforming teams in the competition, has revived itself with a fresh approach and new personnel.
On the other hand, Gujarat will need more runs from their overseas pair of wicketkeeper-batsman Matthew Wade and the senior batsman David Miller, who have had multiple starts ending in failures to convert. This is why the form of Shubman Gill and runs from Hardik Pandya become important.
Abhinav Manohar played a quickfire knock and the presence of the dangerous Rahul Tewatia will keep things interesting, but Gujarat are outmatched in terms of overall firepower in comparison with Rajasthan.
Gujarat are coming off a defeat at the hands of Hyderabad but the clash against Rajasthan gives them an opportunity to top the points table should they defeat the Sanju Samson-led team on Thursday night.
