Gujarat Titans Captain Shubman Gill during the press conference at Narendra Modi Stadium ahead of its IPL 2025 match against Punjab Kings in Ahmedabad, Gujarat on March 24, 2025.
| Photo Credit: Vijay Soneji
Gujarat Titans and Punjab Kings will be hoping for a fresh beginning when they take on each other in an Indian Premier League fixture at the Narendra Modi Stadium here on Tuesday.
GT will want to ensure that its star-studded bowling line-up, comprising Kagiso Rabada, Ishant Sharma, Mohammed Siraj and Rashid Khan, lives up to the expectations. Shreyas Iyer & Co., on the other hand, will focus on playing ‘brave cricket’.
Having enjoyed success as a captain in the past, albeit for different teams, it will be a challenge for Shreyas to bring the best out of the players.
On paper, PBKS looks quite formidable with Glenn Maxwell and Marcus Stoinis bolstering the middle-order, while Arshdeep Singh, Lockie Ferguson and Yuzvendra Chahal add power to the bowling department.
But the visitor needs to capitalise on the key moments, especially at the death.
Titans retained their core and their batting department will revolve around the top-four — captain Shubman Gill, Jos Buttler, Sai Sudharsan and Glenn Phillips — while Washington Sundar and Rashid could come in handy at the fag end.
However, as Gill suggested, the team needs to ‘maximise the PowerPlay’. Last season, Titans were the slowest in that phase, struggling at 7.41 runs per over.
Buttler’s presence will be a huge boost, though, it will be interesting to see whether he opens the innings with Gill or bats at No. 3.
“Firstly, we have all seen what he has (Buttler) done in T20 cricket for England and in IPL. I think in the previous series he batted at number 3, so I don’t think there is any problem with him about batting at different numbers,” Gill told on Monday (March 2025).
“Having said that, we haven’t decided at which number he will bat, maybe we will get to know about it tomorrow during the match, but over the course of I think 8-9 years that he has played IPL, he has played at different numbers and he has performed at different numbers, so I don’t see that as a problem for us,” he added.
(With PTI inputs)
Published – March 25, 2025 02:02 am IST