Gujarat Titans Impact Subs: Washington Sundar, Nishant Sindhu, Anuj Rawat, Mahipal Lomror, Arshad Khan

Rajasthan Royals Impact Subs: Kunal Singh Rathore, Shubham Dubey, Yudhvir Singh Charak, Kumar Kartikeya, Akash Madhwal

Teams:

Gujarat Titans (Playing XI): Sai Sudharsan, Shubman Gill(c), Jos Buttler(w), Sherfane Rutherford, Shahrukh Khan, Rahul Tewatia, Rashid Khan, Ravisrinivasan Sai Kishore, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Ishant Sharma

Rajasthan Royals (Playing XI): Yashasvi Jaiswal, Sanju Samson(w/c), Nitish Rana, Riyan Parag, Shimron Hetmyer, Dhruv Jurel, Jofra Archer, Maheesh Theekshana, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Sandeep Sharma, Tushar Deshpande

Shubman Gill: I would have bowled first as well. Looking at the past few matches, dew has come in during the second innings but we have batted first here. We are taking it one game at a time and not keeping track on how many games we have won. If the top 3 or 4 are doing the job then I am happy with that. We have had a really good home run. No changes for us.

Sanju Samson: We would like to bowl here first because of the conditions. There is going to be dew here. EAch and every game in the IPL is important, we are greatful of the last two games and take the momentum forward. It is great to be back.

Rajasthan Royals have won the toss and have opted to field

Prasidh Krishna: Feels good, the first game back felt like I was coming in after a long time but the franchise has made me feel home and nice. There are a lot of people here that I have played with, played against so nice to come back and do well for the team. (On the importance of preparation for IPL) It was important. Every time I play good amount of cricket and come into the tournament, I feel good because T20 is such that you need to be thinking on your feet. You need to be able to do multiple things at once and having played multiple formats certainly helps me. (On his role in the team) It has slightly changed but then you never know when I’ll get to bowl in any game, so far it has been that I am bowling one in the powerplay and rest outside the powerplay but we are prepared, we are willing to do the hard work that the team wants. (On the pitch today) I haven’t really looked at the wicket yet but Ahmedabad is the kind of wicket that has something for the seamers and it gets easier as the day progresses. We are here to have clear plans, go out there and execute them.

Pitch and Conditions: "The outfield is absolutely fantastic and like a billiards table. The size of the boundary - 60 meters on one side and 71 on the other, 73 meters straight. They say it is a red soil pitch. There is a tinge of green grass. But it is goung to be a super batting surface. We have seen some high scores and you need a big score if you bat first. Both top orders in very good form. It promises to be a heavyweight battle. Bat first, put a massive total on the board and put pressure. 220 is the par total here,"i informs Pommie Mbawanga and Simon Katich.

18:30 Local Time, 13:00 GMT: We are back at Ahmedabad where two in form teams - Gujarat Titans and Rajasthan Royals - face off. The Titans are on a roll, after losing their first game to Punjab Kings they have gone on to win three on the bounce, their top order is firing, Mohammed Suraj is back at his best and Sai Kishore is filling in for the out of sorts Rashid Khan - that seems to be the only blip in this team. Shubman Gill has not only led them well but is among the runs and since the game today is at their home, they start as favorites. The Royals had a tough start - two defeats in their first game, Sanju Samson not available to captain and a bowling attack that seemed to lack a threat. Since then they have won consecutive games, Samson is back as skipper and Jofra Archer is breathing fire which makes the attack more potent. This game has all the makings of a cracker. The toss is in 30 mins but first the pitch report and other stuff coming up. Stay tuned..

Preview

After a close defeat in their tournament opener against Punjab Kings, the Gujarat Titans have been on a roll, winning three games on the bounce. With a top-heavy batting order that has an overdose of finishers, GT's stronger suite certainly seems to be their varied bowling attack. Which is why their defeat against PBKS, albeit on an absolute belter in Ahmedabad, came as an aberration. Even without Rashid Khan's sizeable contributions, the Titans' attack has been firing on all cylinders. Rashid's spin twin, Sai Kishore has taken up the mantle of the destructor in the middle overs.

However, it is GT's pace attack that has caused the most damage with Mohammed Siraj being the standout of the lot. Head coach Ashish Nehra's fetish for pacers and hit-the-deck bowling is well documented, and GT have followed that formula with success. After the opening game where PBKS smashed 240-plus, opponents haven't breached the 175-run mark against the Titans in the three games thereafter. As for the batting department, skipper Shubman Gill is yet to go full throttle but his fifty against SRH has come as a timely reminder of his class.

It's fellow opener Sai Sudharsan who has been GT's main man in the batting along with England's talisman Jos Buttler. The top-three has done bulk of the scoring and it means that the middle order is yet to be fully tested. It is perhaps the only area of concern for the side at the moment but they wouldn't be worrying too much on this for now. In contrast, Rajasthan Royals have endured a mixed bag till date, as their two wins and as many losses from four games suggest. They also got a severe thrashing in their opening game with SRH smashing a whopping 286 in Hyderabad but RR's bowlers have improved since then.

The form of Jofra Archer is arguably the best news for the RR camp as the English pacer has come out all guns blazing with the new ball. His pace is back, so is his movement and importantly, the accuracy. The defeat to SRH was followed by another loss to KKR, but the Royals then went on to down the Super Kings and Punjab Kings with conviction. Apart from Archer, the Sri Lankan spin duo of Maheesh Theekshana and Wanindu Hasaranga have also worked wonders for the side.

The positive aspect for RR in the batting has been the fact they haven't relied on one or two batters to do the job. Nitish Rana, Yashasvi Jaiswal and skipper Sanju Samson have all done their bit, while Dhruv Jurel and Shimron Hetmyer have also been in good touch.

The results may point at RR being a wobbly side but they certainly do have a lot more firepower than the points table suggests at this point. Like the Titans, the Royals also have most bases covered and it makes for a pulsating clash.

When: Wednesday, April 9, 2025, at 7.30 PM

Where: Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad

What to expect: After the opening game where a red-soil surface became the bowlers' nightmare, a black-soil deck was dished out with success against Mumbai Indians, apparently at the team management's request. Given how things went in that game, a similar strip could be in the offing. Runs could still be on offer but the slow nature means bowlers with smart pace variations could thrive.

Head-to-Head: The stats are heavily in favour of GT who hold a one-sided 5-1 record against RR.

Team watch:

Gujarat Titans

Injuries/Unavailability: No injuries have been reported from the Titans camp.

Tactics & Matchups: Jos Buttler has scored 166 runs so far in the competition and has a terrific record against his English counterpart Jofra Archer in the IPL. The former English skipper has scored 89 runs off 47 balls off him, striking at 189.36 and has been dismissed only twice.

Probable XII: Sai Sudharsan, Shubman Gill(c), Jos Buttler(wk), Washington Sundar, Sherfane Rutherford, Rahul Tewatia, Shahrukh Khan, Rashid Khan, Ravisrinivasan Sai Kishore, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Ishant Sharma/ Arshad Khan

Rajasthan Royals

Injuries/Unavailability: No injuries have been reported from the Royals camp.

Tactics & Matchups: Jofra Archer has been excellent in the first over in the history of the IPL. Having bowled the first over on 13 occasions, he has picked up 8 wickets at an economy of 3.54, with an average of 5.75. Up against an in-form top three of GT, it will be an interesting matchup to keep an eye out for.

Probable XII: Sanju Samson (c&wk), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Nitish Rana, Riyan Parag, Dhruv Jurel, Shimron Hetmyer, Wanindu Hasaranga, Jofra Archer, Maheesh Theekshana, Sandeep Sharma, Kumar Kartikeya, Tushar Deshpande

Did you know:

- Each of GT's top three - Gill, Sudharsan and Buttler - average 50 and have a strike-rate above 150 at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.

- R Sai Kishore has out bowled his fellow spinner Rashid Khan in all four games so far for GT. The former has eight wickets so far this campaign while Rashid has just the lone scalp.

- Siraj is the leading wicket taker in Powerplay in IPL 2025 with six scalps - two each in each of the last three games.

What they said?

"We took our time to find out what the best combination, lineups and batting-orders are, injuries we have to take care as this is a long tournament." - Sanju Samson admits that RR have been a bit slow in finding their feet this season.

"Bowlers are game-changers especially in this format, lot of people talk about big-hitters but bowlers win you games" - Shubman Gill has his plans clear.

Squads:

Gujarat Titans Squad: Sai Sudharsan, Shubman Gill(c), Jos Buttler(w), Sherfane Rutherford, Shahrukh Khan, Rahul Tewatia, Washington Sundar, Rashid Khan, Ravisrinivasan Sai Kishore, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Ishant Sharma, Glenn Phillips, Anuj Rawat, Mahipal Lomror, Arshad Khan, Gerald Coetzee, Kagiso Rabada, Karim Janat, Kulwant Khejroliya, Manav Suthar, Nishant Sindhu, Gurnoor Brar, Kumar Kushagra, Jayant Yadav

Rajasthan Royals Squad: Yashasvi Jaiswal, Sanju Samson(w/c), Riyan Parag, Nitish Rana, Shimron Hetmyer, Dhruv Jurel, Wanindu Hasaranga, Jofra Archer, Maheesh Theekshana, Yudhvir Singh Charak, Sandeep Sharma, Kumar Kartikeya, Shubham Dubey, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Kunal Singh Rathore, Akash Madhwal, Ashok Sharma, Tushar Deshpande, Kwena Maphaka, Vaibhav Suryavanshi