New Delhi, April 24: Gujarat Titans (GT) captain Shubman Gill won the toss and asked Delhi Capitals (DC) to bat first in the 40the match of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 at the Arun Jaitley Stadium, here on Wednesday.
GT had reasons to feel happy at the toss, as their skipper Shubman Gill won the toss in 100th IPL game.
Both sides have played eight matches so far in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024. Interestingly, the two teams looked in total control at times, and have also allowed the opposition to run away with surprise wins from their claws on a few occasions.
In pen and paper, they appear evenly matched with some world class match-winners in their sides. While Gujarat Titans (GT) this season are being led by young Shubman Gill, Delhi Capitals (DC) are elated to get back their regular captain Rishabh Pant, who almost got a new life after the fatal 2022 car accident.
Both DC and GT have played eight matches so far in IPL 2024. Gujarat have four wins, while Delhi have emerged victorious on three occasions.
DC suffered a 67-run loss to SRH on their return to the stadium. GT, currently at sixth spot, come into Wednesday’s game after beating Punjab Kings by three wickets at Mullanpur.
The two sides GT and DC met last week at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad, where DC easily won by six wickets after bowling out GT for just 89. After winning the toss, Gill, presented with a special plaque by his team ahead of the match, said GT are fielding an unchanged playing eleven.
“Looks like a good wicket (to bowl first), we've been chasing well in the last couple of games. Means a lot to me (on playing 100 IPL matches), have come a long way, still a long way to go, but the focus is on today's match. It's cricket, there'll always be ups and downs, you want to play the way you're good at,” said Gill.
Rishabh Pant, the Delhi Capitals skipper, said Shai Hope and Sumit Kumar come into the playing eleven in place of Lalit Yadav and David Warner, while adding that he wanted to bat first anyway. Sumit, though, is listed in the five substitutes alongside Lalit.
Warner has amassed just 167 runs in seven outings of IPL 2024, and even missed DC’s two matches due to a finger injury picked at Lucknow. “We just spoke at keeping things simple, just doing what we can do for a longer period of time. This wicket looks a bit slower than the last game, dew plays a big factor here, there was no dew last time, hopefully it'll not be there tonight as well,” he said.
Squads:
Delhi Capitals XI: Prithvi Shaw, Jake Fraser-McGurk, Shai Hope, Rishabh Pant (captain & wicketkeeper), Tristan Stubbs, Abishek Porel, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Anrich Nortje, Khaleel Ahmed and Mukesh Kumar
DC Substitutes: Sumit Kumar, Rasikh Dar Salam, Kumar Kushagra, Praveen Dubey and Lalit Yadav
Gujarat Titans XI: Wriddhiman Saha (wicket-keeper), Shubman Gill (captain), David Miller, Azmatullah Omarzai, Rahul Tewatia, Shahrukh Khan, Rashid Khan, R Sai Kishore, Noor Ahmad, Mohit Sharma and Sandeep Warrier
GT Substitutes: BR Sharath, B Sai Sudharsan, Manav Suthar, Darshan Nalkande and Vijay Shankar
Will it be Delhi or Gujarat, who would have the last laugh depends on which side capitalises the opportunities given by the rival team and also do not allow the opposition to sneak into the game. (With IANS support)
