Gujarat Titans opt to bowl, hand debut to Nishant Sindhu
Punjab Kings bring back Xavier Bartlett, with Vyshak likely to come off the Impact Player bench when they bowl
Toss Gujarat Titans chose to bowl vs Punjab Kings
Gujarat Titans (GT) captain Shubman Gill chose to bowl first against IPL table-toppers Punjab Kings (PBKS) in Ahmedabad. He expected some early help for his fast bowlers from a black-soil pitch with a tinge of grass on it.
GT handed an IPL debut to the left-arm-spin-bowling allrounder Nishant Sindhu, who was part of the India squad that won the Under-19 World Cup in 2022. Sindhu comes into the middle order in place of the out-of-form M Shahrukh Khan, who didn't find a place on the Impact Player bench either. Rahul Tewatia is the likely player to come off the bench when GT chase.
PBKS made a change to their fast-bowling combination, bringing back Xavier Bartlett for Lockie Ferguson, who endured a difficult first match of the season in the defeat to Rajasthan Royals (RR). That loss was PBKS' first of the season. Vijaykumar Vyshak is likely to come off the Impact Player bench when PBKS begin bowling.
Shashank Singh, who was unavailable for the game against RR, missed out again, with Suryansh Shedge keeping his place in the middle order.
PBKS sit on top of the IPL table with 13 points from eight games. If GT win, it will cause a squeeze in the top half of the table, with the teams in second, third, fourth and fifth on the same points total, 12.
Gujarat Titans: 1 Shubman Gill (capt), 2 Sai Sudharsan, 3 Jos Buttler (wk), 4 Nishant Sindhu, 5 Washington Sundar, 6 Jason Holder, 7 Rashid Khan, 8 Arshad Khan, 9 Kagiso Rabada, 10 Mohammed Siraj, 11 Manav Suthar.
Impact Bench: Rahul Tewatia, Glenn Phillips, Anuj Rawat, Kumar Kushagra, Kulwant Kejroliya.
Punjab Kings: 1 Prabhsimran Singh (wk), 2 Priyansh Arya, 3 Cooper Connolly, 4 Shreyas Iyer (capt), 5 Suryansh Shedge, 6 Nehal Wadhera, 7 Marcus Stoinis, 8 Marco Jansen, 9 Xavier Bartlett, 10 Arshdeep Singh, 11 Yuzvendra Chahal.
Impact Bench: Harpreet Brar, Vishnu Vinod, Vijaykumar Vyshak, Musheer Khan, Mitchell Owen.