Gujarat looks to seal play-off berth

AHMEDABAD: Gujarat Titans prides itself on consistency and would hope to produce a solid show against Sunrisers Hyderabad in the Indian Premier League 2023 here on Monday after a rare “flat” performance.

Another win will be enough for defending champion Gujarat (16 points from 12 matches) to seal a play-off berth while Sunrisers, which has secured only eight points from 11 games, is all but out of the top-four reckoning.

In the recent loss to Mumbai Indians in Mumbai, the bowlers, barring Rashid Khan, who starred with both ball and bat, endured a forgettable outing and had no answers to the special hitting ability of Suryakumar Yadav.

“As a group, we were not there. In bowling also, we were very flat. We did not have clear plans or did not execute,” skipper Hardik Pandya had said after Gujarat’s loss. The prolific top-order could not get going and despite a blinder from Rashid, Titans fell short.

Sunrisers will be at the mercy of other teams after losing at home to Lucknow Super Giants from a winning position. SRH could not defend 80 runs off the last six overs, with Nicholas Pooran playing a game-changing innings.

The failure of the top-order and the star bowlers not performing as per expectations have let Sunrisers down. Anmolpreet Singh has replaced Mayank Agarwal at the top, but is yet to make a significant impact. Rahul Tripathi too has not set the stage on fire, totalling 257 runs in 11 games at a strike rate of 129.14.

Skipper Aiden Markram has not led from the front, having scored only 207 runs from 10 games. The handling of express pacer Umran Malik, who last played on April 29, has also been questioned. But, one of the positives has been the recent performances of Abdul Samad, who is finally living up to his potential.