692Views

Clash of new franchises will be viewed with keen interest. Hardik Pandya is captaining for the first time and KL Rahul is an insipid captain but they have an active mentor in the form of former Indian cricketer Gautam Gambhir. 

Match timings

Match Toss Time: 19:00 IST (13:30 GMT)

Match Start Time: 19:30 IST (14:00 GMT)

Match Venue: Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai

Head to Head

# Debut season for both sides.

Weather conditions and pitch

As we saw in the season opener, the conditions are well in favor of the sport. The temperature is expected to hover in the 32-28 degrees celsius and the humidity at the peak is likely to touch the 63% mark. The wind speed is expected to be around the 8-10 km/hr range which will work well in favor of the pacers. 

The dew factor will once again play a vital role and for that reason, the team winning the toss should be looking to bowl first.

Team News

Gujarat Titans have no injury concerns and are one of the few teams who can feature their best playing Xl from the word go. The only exception is the Windies pacer Alzarri Joseph, who is currently part of the Test series against England and is expected to be available from the second match.

Lucknow Super Giants were dealt with a huge blow as their key pacer Mark Wood was ruled out of the league after suffering an elbow injury in the first Test against West Indies. Aussie fast bowler Andrew Tye has been called as a replacement. LSG have also roped in Zimbabwe pace talent Blessing Muzarabani as their net bowler and he may well be in contention for the future prospects. The in-form Kyle Mayers too will miss out on the first encounter and is expected to be available for selection from the second match-up.

Probable Playing Xl

Gujarat Titans (GT): Shubman Gill, Matthew Wade (WK), Vijay Shankar, David Miller, Hardik Pandya (C), Abhinav Manohar, Rahul Tewatia, Rashid Khan, Lockie Ferguson, Mohammed Shami, Varun Aaron/ Yash Dayal

Lucknow Super Giants (LSG): KL Rahul(C), Quinton de Kock, Evin Lewis, Manish Pandey, Manan Vohra, Deepak Hooda, Krunal Pandya, Dushmantha Chameera, Avesh Khan, Ravi Bishnoi, Andrew Tye

Verdict

Now one can see that LSG has more depth in batting than GT. Further openers like Rahul and Quinton can destroy any attack. Whereas Shubman Gill and Saha/Wade will be conservative.

Similarly, the bowling of LSG is more effective than GT, only Rashid is an enigma, who can change the game for GT.

Our rating of LSG is 21 and of GT is 22, but as it is the first match Hardik and other players need to adapt so It will not be a very high-scoring match.

Prediction

The chasing team has a better chance to win it. However, we are tipping it in favor of Lucknow Super Giants to win the encounter against Gujarat Titans.

Happy viewing.