IPL 2023, MI vs GT | Mumbai Indians will face tough challenge from Gujarat Titans

Ahmedabad: Encouraged by Akash Madhwal’s excellent bowling to register a big win over Lucknow Supergiants (MI vs GT) in the eliminator, the Mumbai Indians team was defeated in the second qualifier of the Indian Premier League (IPL 2023) to be held here on Friday. They will face a tough challenge from the defending champions Gujarat Titans. Madhwal took five wickets for five runs in the eliminator played in Chennai on Wednesday as five-time IPL champions Mumbai beat Lucknow by 81 runs. Despite the absence of players like Jasprit Bumrah and Jofra Archer, Mumbai’s big win is a wake-up call for other teams. Mumbai have had a fluctuating performance this season but now it seems that their team is back to its best form at the right time. Cameron Green, Suryakumar Yadav and Tim David have handled the challenges well so far. Apart from him, young batsman Nehal Badhera is also making an impact while the opening pair of Rohit Sharma and Ishan Kishan are also playing their part. With this, the Rohit Sharma-led team is firmly moving towards its sixth title. In front of these batsmen, Gujarat’s bowlers will be severely tested, which is being led by experienced fast bowler Mohammed Shami. Also read Madhwal’s bowling performance in the last match against Lucknow. He took five wickets for five runs in 3.5 overs. The team will expect similar good performance from him. Among other Mumbai bowlers, veteran leg-spinner Piyush Chawla and fast bowler Jason Behrendorff have also bowled impressively. In the last few matches, fast bowler Chris Jordan took one wicket for seven runs in two overs against Lucknow, which is a good sign for Mumbai. Gujarat Titans will enter this match after suffering a defeat in the first qualifier against the Mahendra Singh Dhoni-led Chennai Super Kings. He will have to be at his best to make it to the IPL final for the second time in a row. All the players from Gujarat have made important contributions so far. Shubman Gill and Vijay Shankar have performed brilliantly in batting. Gill did not perform as expected against Chennai but the opening batsman, who scored centuries in the last two matches of the league stage, will be the biggest challenge for Mumbai. Gill has handled the batting responsibility of Gujarat Titans very well. This can be gauged from the fact that he has scored 722 runs in 15 matches so far. Vijay Shankar has scored the most runs after him for Gujarat but he is 421 runs behind Gill. Shankar currently has 301 runs in 12 matches. Gill needs only eight runs to get the Orange Cap from RCB’s Faf Duplesey as the top run-scorer this season. For Gujarat, however, captain Hardik Pandya’s poor performance is a matter of concern. He has scored only 45 runs in the last five matches. David Miller has also failed to play big innings in the middle order. In the last three matches, he could not even reach double digits. Mumbai and Gujarat will be facing each other for the third time this season. So far both the teams have won one match each. Team Gujarat Titans: Hardik Pandya (Captain), Shubman Gill, David Miller, Abhinav Manohar, Sai Sudarshan, Wriddhiman Saha, Matthew Wade, Rashid Khan, Rahul Tewatia, Vijay Shankar, Mohammed Shami, Alzarri Joseph, Yash Dayal, Pradeep Sangwan, Darshan Nalkande, Jayant Yadav, R. Sai Kishore, Noor Ahmed, Dasun Shanaka, Odion Smith, KS Bharath, Shivam Mavi, Urvil Patel, Joshua Little and Mohit Sharma. Mumbai Indians: Rohit Sharma (c), Chris Jordan, Arshad Khan, Jason Behrendorff, Dewald Brewis, Piyush Chawla, Tim David, Raghav Goyal, Cameron Green, Ishan Kishan (wk), Dwayne Janssen, Chris Jordan, Kumar Karthikeya, Akash Madhwal , Riley Meredith, Shams Mulani, Ramandeep Singh, Sandeep Warrier, Hrithik Shokeen, Tristan Stubbs, Arjun Tendulkar, Tilak Verma, Vishnu Vinod, Nehal Wadhera, Suryakumar Yadav. The match will start at 7.30 pm Indian time. (agency)