On Monday evening in Ahmedabad, there is a possibility that one team will secure a place in the playoffs for the second consecutive year in the IPL, while the other team will fail to do so for the third time in a row. If the Gujarat Titans win, they will be the first team this season to qualify for the playoffs with a game in hand. On the other hand, if the Sunrisers Hyderabad lose, they will be eliminated from the playoffs with two matches still remaining.
Even if the Sunrisers manage to cause an upset and win, their chances of advancing are slim, and they would depend on other results to improve their own fortunes. The Titans have been performing exceptionally well, despite two losses in their last four matches, which have still kept them at the top of the table. The Sunrisers, on the other hand, have had a similar recent performance in their previous games but had been inconsistent before that, which has resulted in their current position at ninth place.
The hosts, the Gujarat Titans, have several advantages on their side, including a strong opening pair, an in-form middle order, reliable finishers, and the highest wicket-taker of the season so far. In contrast, the Sunrisers' campaign has been on a downward trend, with only one of their batters averaging over 30 in a minimum of eight innings, and only one bowler having taken at least ten wickets, compared to the Titans' four bowlers.
However, the Sunrisers are aware that a collective performance and a victory against the well-established Titans, whom they haven't faced this season, could keep their slim hopes alive and potentially disrupt the equation for other teams.
Match: Gujarat Titans vs Sunrisers Hyderabad, Match 61
Venue: Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad
Time: 7:30 PM IST
Wriddhiman Saha (wk), Hardik Pandya (c), Vijay Shankar, David Miller, Abhinav Manohar, Rahul Tewatia, Rashid Khan, Noor Ahmad, Alzarri Joseph, Mohammed Shami, Mohit Sharma
Probable Impact Sub: Shubman Gill
Anmolpreet Singh, Abhishek Sharma, Rahul Tripathi, Aiden Markram (c), Heinrich Klaasen (wk), Glenn Phillips, Abdul Samad, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Fazalhaq Farooqi/Marco Jansen, Mayank Markande, T Natarajan
Probable Impact Sub: Vivrant Sharma
Gujarat Titans Squad: Wriddhiman Saha(w), Vijay Shankar, Hardik Pandya(c), David Miller, Rahul Tewatia, Abhinav Manohar, Mohit Sharma, Rashid Khan, Mohammed Shami, Alzarri Joseph, Noor Ahmad, Shubman Gill, Srikar Bharat, Shivam Mavi, Ravisrinivasan Sai Kishore, Sai Sudharsan, Dasun Shanaka, Jayant Yadav, Pradeep Sangwan, Matthew Wade, Odean Smith, Darshan Nalkande, Urvil Patel, Yash Dayal
Sunrisers Hyderabad Squad: Abhishek Sharma, Anmolpreet Singh, Rahul Tripathi, Aiden Markram(c), Heinrich Klaasen(w), Glenn Phillips, Abdul Samad, T Natarajan, Mayank Markande, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Vivrant Sharma, Adil Rashid, Mayank Agarwal, Akeal Hosein, Samarth Vyas, Mayank Dagar, Upendra Yadav, Harry Brook, Kartik Tyagi, Sanvir Singh, Marco Jansen, Nitish Reddy, Umran Malik
