Gujarat Titans skipper Hardik Pandya won the toss and opted to field first against Lucknow Super Giants in Indian Premier League at Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium in Lucknow on Saturday.
In the previous match, LSG had beaten top-of-table Rajasthan Royals by 10 runs and placed in second position in the points table. Whereas, GT had also played against RR in their last encounter where RR won by three wickets.
Afghanistan’s bowler Noor Ahmad is making his debut for GT team, and Alzarri Joseph has been left out. In LSG, spinner Amit Mishra replaced Yudhvir Singh as an impact player.
GT captain Hardik Pandya said at the toss, “We will bat first. Looks like a slow track, want to get the best out of it. There is no time to test our batters now. I am sure they would have batted first as well if they won the toss. Although we chase well, we are batting first today. Alzarri misses out and Noor Ahmad comes in.”
LSG captain KL Rahul said at the toss, “I would have batted but am not worried about it. We will play good cricket. We bowled against SRH as well, we would like to restrict them to a good target and chase it down. Same 12 players.
Yudhvir misses out, Amit Mishra comes in, he was the impact player in the last game. Trusted the 12-13 players, have had a few injuries, each game someone has put their hand up and done the job for the team. We are gelling together well and winning games. That goes hand in hand. it’s been a good vibe in the dressing room.”
Gujarat Titans (Playing XI): Wriddhiman Saha(w), Shubman Gill, Hardik Pandya(c), Vijay Shankar, Abhinav Manohar, David Miller, Rahul Tewatia, Rashid Khan, Mohammed Shami, Noor Ahmad, Mohit Sharma
Lucknow Super Giants (Playing XI): KL Rahul(c), Kyle Mayers, Deepak Hooda, Marcus Stoinis, Krunal Pandya, Nicholas Pooran(w), Ayush Badoni, Naveen-ul-Haq, Amit Mishra, Avesh Khan, Ravi Bishnoi.