Gujarat Titans vs Rajasthan Royals, 23rd Match - Live Cricket Score, Commentary
Preview
After a close defeat in their tournament opener against Punjab Kings, the Gujarat Titans have been on a roll, winning three games on the bounce. With a top-heavy batting order that has an overdose of finishers, GT's stronger suite certainly seems to be their varied bowling attack. Which is why their defeat against PBKS, albeit on an absolute belter in Ahmedabad, came as an aberration. Even without Rashid Khan's sizeable contributions, the Titans' attack has been firing on all cylinders. Rashid's spin twin, Sai Kishore has taken up the mantle of the destructor in the middle overs.
However, it is GT's pace attack that has caused the most damage with Mohammed Siraj being the standout of the lot. Head coach Ashish Nehra's fetish for pacers and hit-the-deck bowling is well documented, and GT have followed that formula with success. After the opening game where PBKS smashed 240-plus, opponents haven't breached the 175-run mark against the Titans in the three games thereafter. As for the batting department, skipper Shubman Gill is yet to go full throttle but his fifty against SRH has come as a timely reminder of his class.
It's fellow opener Sai Sudharsan who has been GT's main man in the batting along with England's talisman Jos Buttler. The top-three has done bulk of the scoring and it means that the middle order is yet to be fully tested. It is perhaps the only area of concern for the side at the moment but they wouldn't be worrying too much on this for now. In contrast, Rajasthan Royals have endured a mixed bag till date, as their two wins and as many losses from four games suggest. They also got a severe thrashing in their opening game with SRH smashing a whopping 286 in Hyderabad but RR's bowlers have improved since then.
The form of Jofra Archer is arguably the best news for the RR camp as the English pacer has come out all guns blazing with the new ball. His pace is back, so is his movement and importantly, the accuracy. The defeat to SRH was followed by another loss to KKR, but the Royals then went on to down the Super Kings and Punjab Kings with conviction. Apart from Archer, the Sri Lankan spin duo of Maheesh Theekshana and Wanindu Hasaranga have also worked wonders for the side.
The positive aspect for RR in the batting has been the fact they haven't relied on one or two batters to do the job. Nitish Rana, Yashasvi Jaiswal and skipper Sanju Samson have all done their bit, while Dhruv Jurel and Shimron Hetmyer have also been in good touch.
The results may point at RR being a wobbly side but they certainly do have a lot more firepower than the points table suggests at this point. Like the Titans, the Royals also have most bases covered and it makes for a pulsating clash.
When: Wednesday, April 9, 2025, at 7.30 PM
Where: Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad
What to expect: After the opening game where a red-soil surface became the bowlers' nightmare, a black-soil deck was dished out with success against Mumbai Indians, apparently at the team management's request. Given how things went in that game, a similar strip could be in the offing. Runs could still be on offer but the slow nature means bowlers with smart pace variations could thrive.
Head-to-Head: The stats are heavily in favour of GT who hold a one-sided 5-1 record against RR.
Team watch:
Gujarat Titans
Injuries/Unavailability: No injuries have been reported from the Titans camp.
Tactics & Matchups: Jos Buttler has scored 166 runs so far in the competition and has a terrific record against his English counterpart Jofra Archer in the IPL. The former English skipper has scored 89 runs off 47 balls off him, striking at 189.36 and has been dismissed only twice.
Probable XII: Sai Sudharsan, Shubman Gill(c), Jos Buttler(wk), Washington Sundar, Sherfane Rutherford, Rahul Tewatia, Shahrukh Khan, Rashid Khan, Ravisrinivasan Sai Kishore, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Ishant Sharma/ Arshad Khan
Rajasthan Royals
Injuries/Unavailability: No injuries have been reported from the Royals camp.
Tactics & Matchups: Jofra Archer has been excellent in the first over in the history of the IPL. Having bowled the first over on 13 occasions, he has picked up 8 wickets at an economy of 3.54, with an average of 5.75. Up against an in-form top three of GT, it will be an interesting matchup to keep an eye out for.
Probable XII: Sanju Samson (c&wk), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Nitish Rana, Riyan Parag, Dhruv Jurel, Shimron Hetmyer, Wanindu Hasaranga, Jofra Archer, Maheesh Theekshana, Sandeep Sharma, Kumar Kartikeya, Tushar Deshpande
Did you know:
- Each of GT's top three - Gill, Sudharsan and Buttler - average 50 and have a strike-rate above 150 at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.
- R Sai Kishore has out bowled his fellow spinner Rashid Khan in all four games so far for GT. The former has eight wickets so far this campaign while Rashid has just the lone scalp.
- Siraj is the leading wicket taker in Powerplay in IPL 2025 with six scalps - two each in each of the last three games.
What they said?
"We took our time to find out what the best combination, lineups and batting-orders are, injuries we have to take care as this is a long tournament." - Sanju Samson admits that RR have been a bit slow in finding their feet this season.
"Bowlers are game-changers especially in this format, lot of people talk about big-hitters but bowlers win you games" - Shubman Gill has his plans clear.
Squads:
Gujarat Titans Squad: Sai Sudharsan, Shubman Gill(c), Jos Buttler(w), Sherfane Rutherford, Shahrukh Khan, Rahul Tewatia, Washington Sundar, Rashid Khan, Ravisrinivasan Sai Kishore, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Ishant Sharma, Glenn Phillips, Anuj Rawat, Mahipal Lomror, Arshad Khan, Gerald Coetzee, Kagiso Rabada, Karim Janat, Kulwant Khejroliya, Manav Suthar, Nishant Sindhu, Gurnoor Brar, Kumar Kushagra, Jayant Yadav
Rajasthan Royals Squad: Yashasvi Jaiswal, Sanju Samson(w/c), Riyan Parag, Nitish Rana, Shimron Hetmyer, Dhruv Jurel, Wanindu Hasaranga, Jofra Archer, Maheesh Theekshana, Yudhvir Singh Charak, Sandeep Sharma, Kumar Kartikeya, Shubham Dubey, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Kunal Singh Rathore, Akash Madhwal, Ashok Sharma, Tushar Deshpande, Kwena Maphaka, Vaibhav Suryavanshi
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