GT v RCB: IPL MATCH 43 PREVIEW

Declared as one of the worst teams after auctions, GT have silenced every critic by being the table toppers. Captain Hardik Pandya has led from the front in both the departments. Tewatia has done his thing in 3 games, Miller has done exceedingly well as the Seniormost batter in the side and the duo of Shami - Lockie continue to pick up wkts. Just like Ayush Badoni for Lucknow and Jitesh Sharma for Punjab, GT have unearthed some gems in Abhinav Manohar & Yash Dayal but they did the wrong thing in dropping Sai Sudarshan for Vijay Shankar. GT have one major chink in their armour and that is the top 3 and only Shubhman Gill has scored some runs followed by Saha in the last outing. They had hit only one six in the Powerplay till the 5th game. Skipper Hardik Pandya did not look excited after his team pulled off an another last ball thriller against SRH and jokingly said that he fears his side may run out on the luck in the playoffs.

RCB's biggest concern is its top order and scoring rate in Powerplay. Anuj Rawat has scored 77 runs at a SR of 93, His partner Faf du plessis fares even worse with 104 runs at a SR of 84. Virat Kohli strikes at 100 having scored 34 runs. RCB have the worst scoring rate in the powerplay with 6.52 and have lost 16 wkts. Another department where RCB have fared poorly is the the death bowling. Before the game against Lucknow, they had picked up only 5 wkts (least) and conceded runs at 13.2 (second worst). Dinesh Karthik, Shahbaz Ahmed in the batting department have been the only bright spots so far. DK is averaging 72 and his SR is near 200. He has been having a phenomenal season and has looked in zen mode right from ball 1. RCB should promote Kohli at the top and slot Mahipal Lomror at 3. This was the 3rd time Virat Kohli has failed to register double digits in 3 consecutive innings.

Probable XI

Royal Challengers Bangalore

Faf du Plessis (c), Virat Kohli, Mahipal Lomror/Rajat Patidar, Glenn Maxwell, Dinesh Karthik(wk), Suyash Prabhudesai, Shahbaz Ahmed, Wanindu Hasaranga, Josh Hazlewood, Harshal Patel, Mohammad Siraj

Gujarat Titans

Shubhman Gill, Wriddhiman Saha, David Miller, Hardik Pandya (c), Rahul Tewatia, Abhinav Manohar, Rashid Khan, Alzarri Joseph, Mohammad Shami, Lockie Ferguson, Yash Dayal

Venue

Brabourne Stadium, Mumbai

Record at Brabourne

GT: Played 1, Won 1, Lost 0
RCB: Played 1, Won 0, Lost 1

20 IPL games have been played at Brabourne.
Teams batting 1st have won 10/20 games.

Average Total batting 1st: 177.6
Average 1st innings winning total: 197.3
Average 1st innings total in 2022: 174.5

Highest total: 217/5 by RR vs KKR in 2022

Match Ups

Faf v Shami: 82/2 at 174 sr
Faf v Lockie: 51/0 at 221 sr
Faf v Rashid: 15/2 at 53 sr

Kohli v Lockie: 44/0 at 169 sr
Kohli v Shami: 62/4 at 134.8 sr
Kohli v Rashid: 21/1 at 87 sr

DK v Pandya: 45/0 at 155 sr
DK v Rashid: 29/2 at 111 sr
DK v Shami: 52/2 at 157.6 sr

Saha v Harshal: 12/2 at 240 sr
Hardik v Harshal: 6/2 at 85 sr
Miller v Harshal: 45/0 at 196 sr
Maxwell v Rashid: 40/0 at 117 sr

Form Update
(last 5 innings)

Key Players and Fanatsy Picks

Captain & Vice Captain

Rashid Khan: He was the stand in captain in the game against CSK and displayed his prowess with the bat while chasing and scored 40 off 21 balls. He again did what he has been doing in leagues like BBL and PSL all these years and smashed 31 of 11 deliveries to take GT to a memorable victory against SRH. 8 wkts at an eco of 7.1 are his stats in this season. Rashid has never finished a season with an eco of greater than 7.

Hardik Pandya: India's best all rounder had an outing to forget last year. Due to Injuries, Hardik has not been bowling and subsequently lost his place in the national side for these 2 reasons. This IPL is a great opportunity for him to win the trust back of the selectors and make a strong statement ahead of the t20 wc. In 2019 and 2020, Hardik scored the most runs in the death overs. He smashed 463 runs at a SR of 221 with 39 sixes. He has started amazingly well this season both with the bat and the ball. He is the 4th highest scorer of the season with 305 runs.

Josh Hazlewood: RCB suffered massively in the initial games with their 4th pacer Akash deep going for plenty in every game and Siraj who was supposed to be the leader of the attack failed to make any mark in almost every game. Hazlewood's arrival has boosted their bowling department to a great extent. He has 10 wkts from 5 games at an eco of 7.5 and a dot % of 50.

Wanindu Hasaranga: 13 wkts at an eco of 8.2. Hasaranga has got a big wkt in almost every game and almost sealed the games against MI, RR and DC in RCB's favour with his bowling.

Budget picks (Fanatsy Rating - 8/8.5 points)

Shahbaz Ahmed: He has been RCB's saviour with the bat. 195 runs at an avg of 39 and SR of 125 speaks volumes about his contributions lower down the order. RCB were 62/4 in 3 games, 42/3, 75/4 when he has walked out to bat.

Wild Card

Shubhman Gill started this season with a bang with scores of 84 & 96 but his form as tapered off in the last 5 innings where he has managed just 49 runs at a SR of 93. The match against RCB could well be his day.

Prediction: A win for RCB and Hazlewood will be the standout performer.

Fanatsy XI