The 4th match of this year’s IPL edition is between the two new franchises of Gujarat and Lucknow.
Both teams have picked interesting squads from the auction and will be looking to win the title in their inaugural season.
It will be a captaincy debut for Gujarat’s Hardik Pandya while Lucknow’s KL Rahul has joined this newbie team after departing from Punjab Kings.
Analysis of squads
Gujarat’s woes started since Jason Roy took a departure from IPL.
They signed Rahmanullah Gurbaz as his replacement, however, it will be interesting to see whether they play Gurbaz or Matthew Wade who is also an explosive option.
As far as Gujarat’s bowling is concerned, Rashid Khan will be leading their bowling attack along with the likes of Lockie Ferguson, Shami, Tewatia as well.
It is safe to assume that Gujarat have one of the most formidable bowling attacks in this season.
However, their middle order will be tested as Miller’s form has been inconsistent.
But with Hardik playing as a pure batter, they will have a depth in batting.
Super Giants have an explosive top order with KL and de Kock.
However, they will have to rely on backups in the middle order since their members like Jason Holder, Marcus Stoinis and Kyle Mayers will join the team after finishing their national duties.
In the bowling department, they have been dealt a big blow with Mark Wood been ruled out after an injury.
Still, they have some young blood in the form of Krunal, Hooda, Avesh Khan who will be the point of focus in this season.
Match details:
Venue: Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai
Date: 28th March 2022
Time: 7:30pm IST
Head to head past record:
There is no head to head record between both teams as both are the new franchises in this year’s IPL.
Probable Playing 11 – Gujarat Titans:
Matthew Wade, Shubham Gill (wk), Vijay Shankar, Abhinav Manohar, David Miller, Hardik Pandya (C), Rashid Khan, Rahul Tewatia, R Kishore, Lockie Ferguson, Mohammad Shami
Probable Playing 11 – Lucknow Super Giants:
KL Rahul (C), Quinton de Kock, Manish Pandey, Deepak Hooda, Manan Vohra, Krunal Pandya, Ankit Rajput, K Gowtham, Ravi Bishnoi, Dushmantha Chameera, Avesh Khan
Star bowler of the match: Rashid Khan
Star batsman of the match: KL Rahul
Who will win?
It is a tough call to predict a winner from these debutant franchises of this year’s IPl but on the paper, Gujarat Titans have the strength to pull this out.
As it goes without saying, toss will be an important factor here as well.
If Super Giants can somehow manage to handle the maestro Rashid Khan, they can surprise everyone with a debut win as well.
So stay tuned and enjoy the cricket!
