Only seventy-two hours had passed since Vaibhav Suryavanshi’s fury was inflicted on the Gujarat Titans. Recovering from such an attack must be difficult, particularly when the perpetrator is only 14 years old. The revelation that Travis Head, played by Abhishek Sharma, has replaced Yashasvi Jaiswal, played by Vaibhav Suryavanshi, makes the recovery process seem much more difficult. Four of their seven bowling options finished with an economy of over 16, and six of them let up more than 10 runs per over throughout the Jaipur match. Twenty-five balls remained to overhaul a target of 210.
Those are startling figures that ought to give a dismal impression. But against their next opponent, the Titans can learn from their own performance earlier in the season. Prasidh Krishna had a successful outing, Mohammed Siraj put SRH’s openers to the test in the first five overs, and Sai Kishore’s stock increased after he dismissed Heinrich Klaasen. Sai Kishore’s deployment by Shubman Gill will be interesting to watch because the spinner simply did not bowl during the outbursts by Jaiswal and Suryavanshi. It would be intriguing to observe whether the left-arm spinner will be asked to use his skills against another lineup of left-handed heavy batsmen.
The Titans’ top order will continue to score runs, so they won’t have to worry about anything. It’s really amazing that Sai Sudharsan, Jos Buttler, and Shubman Gill are all in the top seven run scorers this season. The victory over CSK would have given SRH relief and maintained their hopes. However, things will get more difficult from here on out because they will probably have to win their next five games as well, beginning with this Friday matchup.
When: Friday, May 2, 7:30 p.m. IST
Where: Ahmedabad’s Narendra Modi Stadium
Expectations: Teams have scored more than 200 runs in five of the eight innings played at this location thus far. The fact that the side batting first has won three of the four games played here thus far is a noteworthy statistic.
Head-to-head: Having defeated the Sunrisers four times in a row, the Gujarat Titans will lead them 4-1.
Team updates
Gujarat Titans
Karim Janat was thrashed for 30 runs in the one over he bowled in his IPL debut against the Royals, so it will be intriguing to see if the Titans give him another chance while they wait for Kagiso Rabada to return.
Strategies & Matchups: Ishan Kishan made a splash in the 2025 Indian Premier League with a daring century, but his output has since slowed. In the past, he has struggled against Washington Sundar and Rashid Khan, two of GT’s spinners. The Afghan legspinner has already dismissed Kishan twice, and he has a poor strike-rate of 89.36 and 116.41, respectively.
Shubman Gill (C), Sai Sudharsan, Jos Buttler (WK), Sherfane Rutherford, Rahul Tewatia, Rashid Khan, Sai Kishore, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Karim Janat/Ishant Sharma, and Shahrukh Khan are the likely XII.
Sunrisers Hyderabad
Kamindu Mendis was introduced by SRH at Chepauk, and under such circumstances, it was a useful addition. They will need to decide whether to keep him in the starting lineup for this match under various circumstances. It will be difficult to keep him out, though, given his performance the other night. Simarjeet Singh, who is speedier, would be a better choice than Jaydev Unadkat.
Strategies & Matchups: The Gujarat Titans are the only team with a middle-order in which no batter has scored 50 runs or more. Their middle-order, which consists of players ranked No. 4 through No. 7, has amassed 412 runs at an average of 24.23 in 9 games. Early use of the GT middle order could be considered by the Sunrisers.
Potential XII: Pat Cummins (C), Aniket Verma, Kamindu Mendis, Heinrich Klaasen (WK), Travis Head, Abhishek Sharma, Ishan Kishan, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Harshal Patel, Simarjeet Singh, Zeeshan Ansari, and Mohammed Shami
India
