The 17th match of the 2024 edition of the Indian Premier League is likely to witness a thrilling encounter as Gujarat Titans will go up against Punjab Kings. The Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad will play host to the much-anticipated game at 7:30 pm on Thursday.
The Titans would be brimming with confidence as Shubman Gill is doing a good job in his maiden leadership season but the Shikhar Dhawan-led Kings need to prove their mettle and make a comeback following two consecutive losses.
What has happened so far?
With four points to their name from three league matches, Gujarat Titans are occupying the fourth place in the points table. The 2022 IPL Champions started the tournament on the right note by defeating the Mumbai Indians by six runs. It was followed by a small hiccup for the team in the form of a defeat against Chennai Super Kings by 63 runs as the batters let the team down scoring only 143 runs while chasing a big score of 207.
However, the Titans were quick to make a comeback as they got better off Sunrisers Hyderabad in their most recent encounter. GT bowlers ruled the game and steered the team to a seven-wicket win as they put brakes on the SRH batters limiting them to a score of 162 runs.
On the other hand, Punjab Kings are languishing in the third-last place in the points table after winning only one of their three league games. The team did a good job in its opening game by defeating Delhi Capitals in their new home ground.
However, things have gone downhill for the franchise on the road as they lost to Royal Challengers Bengaluru and Lucknow Super Giants by four wickets and 21 runs respectively.
Head to Head Record
Gujarat Titans have played a total of three games against Punjab Kings in the Indian Premier League history. The Titans dominated the Kings in two matches while one game saw the Shikhar Dhawan-led side scoring a win.
In IPL 2023, GT and PBKS faced each other once at the I.S. Bindra Stadium in Mohali and the duo of Gill and Mohit Sharma ensured that the Titans won the match with a ball and six wickets to spare while chasing a target of 154 runs.
Key Players
Mohit Sharma (Gujarat Titans): Mohit Sharma has been ageing like a fine wine as the former CSK bowler is in third place in the Purple Cap race behind Mustafizur Rahman and Yuzvendra Chahal. He has a total of six wickets to his name in IPL 2024 so far at an average of under 16.
Sharma took home the Player of the Match trophy as the right-arm pacer conceded only 25 runs while picking three wickets in four overs to record an impressive economy rate of 6.2 helping his side defeat SRH. It was a wonderful performance by the 35-year-old as he dismissed the likes of Abhishek Sharma, Shahbaz Ahmed, and Washington Sundar.
Shikhar Dhawan (Punjab Kings): Despite Punjab Kings’ underwhelming performance in the 2024 IPL season, skipper Shikhar Dhawan has managed to impress the fans and critics. In three matches so far, he has scored 137 runs at a good average of 45.67. He is just behind Riyan Parag, Virat Kohli, and Heinrich Klaasen in the run-scoring charts.
Shikhar Dhawan has been the best performer for the Punjab Kings in IPL 2024
The opening batter delivered an impressive performance in PBKS’ last game against Lucknow Super Giants. Though the team lost the match by 21 runs, Dhawan stole the limelight with his knock of 70 runs off 50 balls at a strike rate of 140.
Team News from Both Camps
Gujarat Titans haven’t reported any injury concerns after Mohammed Shami’s exclusion from the tournament and Matthew Wade is also back in the squad after serving his side in the Sheffield Shield final where the southpaw failed to contribute with the bat as his side finished up as the runners-up of the tournament.
Speaking of Punjab Kings, they haven’t faced any injury concerns and are likely to play with their full-strength squad in the Thursday encounter.
Predicted XIs
Gujarat Titans: Wriddhiman Saha (wk), Shubman Gill ©, Azmatullah Omarzai, David Miller, Vijay Shankar, Rahul Tewatia, Rashid Khan, R Sai Kishore, Umesh Yadav, Mohit Sharma, Spencer Johnson
Punjab Kings: Shikhar Dhawan ©, Jonny Bairstow, Prabhsimran Singh, Liam Livingstone, Sam Curran, Jitesh Sharma (wk), Harpreet Brar, Harshal Patel, Kagiso Rabada, Rahul Chahar, Arshdeep Singh
Prediction
The chances of Gujarat Titans recording their third victory in the ongoing IPL season are high on Thursday, as they will battle it out against Punjab Kings. The Titans will be in good spirits after winning two of their three league matches.
In addition, the match will be played at the Narendra Modi Cricket Stadium and the team will have a home advantage while Punjab Kings have not been able to hack it away from home, losing two games in a row.