Bruised by Mayank Yadav's scorching pace, Punjab Kings' batters will face an altogether different challenge when Gujarat Titans' bowling unit tries to take the pace off deliveries on a slightly tricky Motera track in their IPL match in Ahmedabad on Thursday. (More Cricket News)
The Kings have lost their last two away games and another slip-up against the Titans will lead to further loss of momentum which tends to shift very quickly due to a lack of turnaround time.
Titans, on the other hand, are brimming with confidence after beating Sunrisers Hyderabad comprehensively by seven wickets in their last game.
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In the previous match, the Kings were completely undone by Mayank's speed and most of their top-order batters looked ill-equipped to face the fast bowler, who was regularly clocking 150 clicks and more importantly, aiming to bowl into the body of the batters.
However, the scenario will be completely different when veteran Mohit Sharma comes calling at the back end, presenting a palate of variations.
Mohit uses knuckle balls, slow bouncers and wide yorkers to good effect and this year's IPL trend has shown that save Mayank, all speedsters, who have been able to take pace off their deliveries, have been more successful.
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It will pose a different kind of challenge for the likes of Shikhar Dhawan, Jonny Bairstow and Jitesh Sharma, all of whom like the ball to come onto the bat.
If Liam Livingstone is unavailable for Thursday's match after sustaining a hamstring niggle in the last game, it will spell doom for Punjab as they would then happen to lose their key enforcer during the death overs.
Punjab will also have to deal with the accuracy of the incomparable Rashid Khan and the guile of Noor Ahmed, the former's left-arm alter-ego.
The third Afghan in the line-up, Azmatullah Omarzai's all-round skills will also be a challenge for the team.
More than Punjab's batting, it is their bowling, especially at the death, that has been a cause for concern.
Harshal Patel, one of their million-dollar buys, has had a pathetic season so far going for an economy rate of 11.41 runs per over, having bowled his quota in all three games.
Equally disappointing has been leg-spinner Rahul Chahar, who has conceded runs at an economy rate of 11.37, and hasn't been able to complete his quota of overs.
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Arshdeep Singh, India's designated death overs yorker specialist, has also been profligate to a certain extent and it has once again compounded Kings' worries.
For Titans, the performance against defending champions Chennai Super Kings could be termed an aberration as they have executed their plans pretty well.
The batting is yet to fire in unison but the bowling unit has shown its wares by defending well in the opening game and restricting a rampaging SRH to a manageable score in the last game.
Teams (from):
Gujarat Titans: Shubman Gill (c), David Miller, Matthew Wade, Wriddhiman Saha, Robin Minz, Kane Williamson, Abhinav Mandhar, B Sai Sudarshan, Darshan Nalkande, Vijay Shankar, Azmatullah Omarzai, Shahrukh Khan, Jayant Yadav, Rahul Tewatia, Kartik Tyagi, Shshant Mishra, Spencer Johnson, Noor Ahmad, Sai Kishore, Umesh Yadav, Rashid Khan, Joshua Little, Mohit Sharma and Manav Suthar.
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Punjab Kings: Shikhar Dhawan (captain), Matthew Short, Prabhsimran Singh, Jitesh Sharma, Sikandar Raza, Rishi Dhawan, Liam Livingstone, Atharva Taide, Arshdeep Singh, Nathan Ellis, Sam Curran, Kagiso Rabada, Harpreet Brar, Rahul Chahar, Harpreet Bhatia, Vidwath Kaverappa, Shivam Singh, Harshal Patel, Chris Woakes, Ashutosh Sharma, Vishwanath Pratap Singh, Shashank Singh, Tanay Thyagarajann, Prince Choudhary, Rilee Rossouw.
The match starts at 7.30 PM IST.
