• TEAM INFO: Two games in for KKR and we have seen extremes of KKR. Although most would say that, in the second match against RCB, it was only the late brilliance of Shardul Thakur, which made the difference. On the other hand, its GT, who have been cruising through IPL 2023 so far. Starting with a win against the mighty Chennai Super Kings and following it by crushing the minnows Delhi Capitals, would be helping their confidence.
• Head-to-Head - Played - 1; Won by GT - 1; Won by KKR – 0
• GT possible XI – Shubman Gill, HH Pandya (c), Sai Sudharsan, DA Miller, R Tewatia, Wriddhiman Saha (wk), Rashid Khan, M Shami, J Little, Yash Dayal, Alzarri Joseph
• KKR possible XI – Mandeep Singh, RK Singh, N Rana (c), AD Russell, SP Narine, VR Iyer, Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), Shardul Thakur, Tim Southee, UT Yadav, Varun Chakravarthy
• Pitch & Weather Report – The pitch at Narendra Modi Stadium is ideal for batting. Previous encounters have shown that the team batting second has an advantage. The weather in Ahmedabad is expected to be sunny and generally clear on Sunday. There is no chance of rain during the fixture between Gujarat Titans and Kolkata Knight Riders. The temperature can go up to 40 degrees Celsius. Humidity will be around 28 per cent.
• Match Prediction – GT is on a winning streak with nearly the best squad, but KKR cannot be ignored. KKR overcame RCB despite the collapse of their top batting order. Shardul Thakur, who has a reputation as a bowler, hammered RCB bowlers and scored 68 runs in the previous match. Although, on paper it’s the defending champions GT, that looks good and they are also in a brilliant form and hence I have to have my Gujarat Titans flag flying high.
SUNRISERS HYDERABAD (SRH) VS PUNJAB KINGS (PBKS) AT HYDERABAD
• TEAM INFO – Even though SRH have played two games this season, but the fans believe that their souls are yet to enter the competition. Both the games were almost a no-show and one-sided encounter. On the other hand, its Punjab Kings that are oozing with confidence and are on a roll of their own. This season Punjab have sorted their bowling, which brings great value to their already consistent batting. If SRH want to even stand a chance, they will have to bring their A-game in front of their 50,000+ fans on a Sunday evening.
• Head-to-Head - Played - 19; Won by SRH- 13; Won by PBKS – 6
• SRH possible XI – Mayank Agarwal, Anmolpreet Singh (wk), Rahul Tripathi, Aiden Markram (c), Harry Brook, Washington Sundar, Abdul Samad, T Natarajan/Marco Jansen, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Umran Malik, Adil Rashid
• PBKS possible XI – Shikhar Dhawan (c), Prabhsimran Singh, Bhanuka Rajapaksa, Jitesh Sharma (wk), Shahrukh Khan, Sam Curran, Sikandar Raza, Nathan Ellis, Harpreet Brar, Rahul Chahar, Arshdeep Singh
• Pitch & Weather Report –The pitch is known to offer good bounce with batters finding a good connection. The pacers may enjoy a good session with the new ball, while the spinners are expected to get some assistance in the middle overs. With no chance of rain, the temperature could hover around 23 degrees Celsius to 30 degrees Celsius, while the humidity is anticipated to be around 69 per cent.
• Match Prediction – Punjab is in too good a form for the struggling Hyderabad to even stand a chance. They would already be feeling the heat from the poor start they have had and on top of that, they will be facing the wrath and confidence of Punjab. This is no brainer to be backing Punjab Kings.
Fan Comments
“Comparing Tilak Verma to Michael Bevan for his versatile game play and then the young upcoming master blaster Ruturaj Gaikwad. Both these stars are soon going to be shinning in Indian colours. – Dipak Thanki, 50, Investor, Indian.
“The GT have cracked the winning code in T20 format under the guidance of Ashish Nehra and the captaincy of Hardik Pandya. Its not far that we see this duo for the Indian team as well.” – Issa al Balushi, 30, Finance Accountant, Omani.
“Shikar Dhawan has been hard done by the impulsive decision making of the BCCI and I am sure that by the end of this IPL 2023, the strong and consistent performers will replace a lot of people who are just holding positions in the Indian team. GO PUNJAB GO!! – Yousuf al Balushi, 33, Banker, Omani.
“How much are the Hyderabadi fans missing the captaincy of David Warner and all-round performance of Rashid Khan? The only possible way ahead for Hyderabad is to establish long lasting relation and trust in players, just like how Mumbai, Chennai and Bangalore do.” – Zain Raza, 31, Intelligent Network Engineer (Huawei Oman), Pakistani.
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