Fasten your seatbelt! The Pandya Household derby is here

Had KL Rahul not been ruled out of the IPL, there would have been a definitive storyline waiting to be explored on Sunday. Notwithstanding the fact that it is already been close to five years that Rahul and Hardik Pandya had found themselves embroiled in a controversy, the embers of which is felt till date everytime they were together. But as they say, why let anything come on the way of a good rant. 

If you are searching for one, there’s always a story to be explored. 

This is going to be a great day for the Pandya household when Hardik and Krunal will walk out for the toss. The siblings, who are literally the products of the IPL, are the ambassadors of the changing dynamics of Indian cricket and how the sport has been democratised for good. Them leading the two top sides in the competition tells a story of its own. No matters who wins, there will be no love lost. 

Things to watch out for

To be at home or on the road?

A simple look at the points table gives it away that Gujarat Titans and Lucknow Super Giants are two of the best teams in the league. But they have achieved it on the back of steller away records. With two wins in five home games, GT have a win % of even below 50 in home games. But they are yet to lose a single away game this season, having won all of their five games on the road.

Lucknow have a similar record as well. The RP Sanjeev Goenka-owned side have done well in away games compared to home games in IPL 2023, securing Ws in three of the four away games compared to two of the six games at home in Lucknow. Now they are pitted in contrasting situations, with GT having a bad record in Ahmedbad and LSG having a terrific record on the road. How much of inference from this would be a concern is left for interpretation but it would definitely be running in both team management’s minds.

Gujarat will beware of LSG’s death dominance

Gujarat Titans and Lucknow Super Giants have played each other three times in the IPL, and in all three games, LSG have been on the losing side. But they have a chance to redeem themselves on Sunday.

One of the fundamental aspects of their success this season has been their bowlers, and their outstanding success in the final five overs of the matches. The most successful death overs bowling side in the league, LSG have taken the most wickets and have taken a wicket every eighth ball.

All LSG pacers have found success in final five overs as they have less than 10 strike rate in this phase this IPL. Naveen-ul-Haq, in particular, has been bowling well, going wicket-less in just one out of four innings this season. He has the best economy in IPL 2023 as he has an economy of just 6.1 in this season. If he fires, then GT will have nowhere to hide.

Ground Conditions

Teams chasing won the first three games at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad but in the last two games, teams batting first have won the game. The average first innings score is 179 with winning score being 169 and that tells you how batting has been a difficult proposition in Ahmedabad.

Pacers have been more successful at Ahmedabad compared to spinners as they have taken 37 wickets compared to spinner 25. Both of them have similar economy rate though. 

Tactical Nous

Shubman Gill has been consistently scoring runs at the top of the order for GT and currently is amongst the top five batters with most runs in IPL 2023. While Gill was dismissed only once against spin in the first five games, he has been dismissed four times by spin in the last five games. Attacking him with Krunal Pandya and Ravi Bishnoi would be the key.

LSG have not had a good record while chasing in IPL and have lost eight of the 12 games in their IPL history. They have lost three of the five games this season while chasing. Since 2022, they have a win percentage of 33.3% while chasing, hence inserting them to bowl first would be on the top of the agenda for the Hardik Pandya-led side.

Kyle Mayers has done well in away games in IPL 2023 and has scored more in away games, hitting three of the four 50s outside Lucknow. He has scored at a good strike rate against both pace and spin, with an SR of nearly 170 against spin. But, he has been dismissed by them in six of the eight games so far. With Gujarat Titans having Rashid Khan and Noor Ahmad in their ranks, it will be a great opportunity to start with spin. 

Playing XIs

Gujarat Titans: Wriddhiman Saha (wk), Hardik Pandya (c), Vijay Shankar, David Miller, Abhinav Manohar, Rahul Tewatia, Rashid Khan, Mohit Sharma, Noor Ahmad, Mohammed Shami, Joshua Little

Lucknow Super Giants : Kyle Mayers, Manan Vohra, Karan Sharma, Ayush Badoni, Marcus Stoinis, Nicholas Pooran (wk), Krunal Pandya (c), Krishnappa Gowtham, Naveen-ul-Haq, Ravi Bishnoi, Mohsin Khan