16 April,2023 07:59 AM IST | Ahmedabad | Sunil K Vaidya
GT skipper Hardik Pandya and RR captain Sanju Samson
The clash today at the Narendra Modi Cricket Stadium will decide whether Rajasthan Royals stay top of the table or Gujarat Titans scale the summit in IPL-16.
Both teams have won three matches and lost one. Thus, the Sunday tie offers to be a high-octane battle between last year's finalists.
Gujarat skipper Hardik Pandya missed the high-scoring home defeat to Kolkata Knight Riders. There was no official statement on why he did not play against KKR but it seems that it was a part of workload management for India players.
The Gujarat captain did not bowl in the last match against Punjab and has not bowled his full quota of overs in any match. "There was no need for him to bowl as the other five bowlers did well," Rahul Tewatia said in the post-match media interaction.
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The other bowlers have delivered except in the 200-plus game against KKR last Sunday at home. In that defeat, however, captain Hardik's absence was felt the most, especially at the death when Rinku Singh smoked five sixes in the last over to turn the tables on the Titans. His calmness and astute leadership have been the biggest positives for GT.
When asked about a protective glove on his left hand, Hardik explained that he has a habit of hitting his knee with the back of his left hand. "I get swelling on my knuckles because of that habit, so I wear this glove as protection," he explained to Sunday mid-day on the sidelines of a training session.
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After Yash Dayal had conceded 31 runs in the last over against KKR, Mohit Sharma replaced him and was named Player of the Match after returning figures of 2-18.
Subhman Gill and Wriddhiman Saha have been giving them a rollicking start in the Powerplay but if Hardik starts firing with the bat, the Titans will become unstoppable.
Rajasthan top-order, Jos Buttler and Yashasvi Jaiswal have been solid but with only a fifty from four games, skipper Sanju Samson needs to step up after getting out twice without bothering the scorers.
Titans have multiple choices to make from the squares available to them and are unlikely to offer a pitch that could favour Rajasthan's three spinners.
