The state of play
As last year’s Indian Premier League runners-up, Gujarat Titans had lofty expectations for 2024, and a return of two wins from three games has them looking up ahead of Thursday’s meeting with Punjab Kings.
The Titans made it two victories from two home matches for the season on Sunday, limiting big-hitting Sunrisers Hyderabad to 162-8 for a seven-wicket win at Narendra Modi Stadium.
Noor Ahmad, Rashid Khan and Mohit Sharma stifled the Sunrisers with efficient bowling displays in what turned out to be a comfortable win, the latter of the trio posting figures of 3-25 in a Player-of-the-Match display.
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With a tough two-game road stretch against the Lucknow Super Giants and Rajasthan Royals on the horizon, captain Shubman Gill knows the Titans must make home advantage count once again on Thursday.
“Winning two matches at home is great, we’ve got two more to go and then we go on the road,” Gill said. “We’re hoping to bring the momentum back.”
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Punjab Kings, meanwhile, have one win and two defeats to their name so far this year, having followed up their season-opening victory over Delhi Capitals with back-to-back losses.
The latest of those came against Lucknow on Saturday, as 21-year-old sensation Mayank Yadav recorded a hat-trick in a 21-run victory for the Super Giants.
Captain Shikhar Dhawan believes the team only need to make marginal gains to improve their competitiveness, lamenting a series of errors which cost them timely wickets in their last match.
Sadde Shers had a 𝐆rea𝐓 catch-up with the Titans! 🤩#SaddaPunjab #PunjabKings #JazbaHaiPunjabi #TATAIPL2024 #GTvPBKS pic.twitter.com/qGTQBsyTaG
— Punjab Kings (@PunjabKingsIPL) April 3, 2024
“They bowled well and used the pressure against us, we’re going to analyse the game. We’ve got to take catches, that takes the momentum away and gets the energy down,” the batter said.
“To come up with better plans and, more importantly, to implement them is what we need to do. We’re close but need to do 10 per cent more.”
Expected line-ups
Gujarat Titans: Wriddhiman Saha, Shubman Gill (c), Sai Sudharsan, Azmatullah Omarzai, Vijay Shankar, David Miller, Rahul Tewatia, Rashid Khan, Noor Ahmed, Umesh Yadav, Mohit Sharma.
Punjab Kings: Shikhar Dhawan (c), Jonny Bairstow, Sam Curran, Liam Livingstone, Jitesh Sharma, Shashank Singh, Harpreet Brar, Kagiso Rabada, Harshal Patel, Arshdeep Singh, Rahul Chahar.
How to watch
Sky have the rights to show the IPL to UK viewers in 2024 and will broadcast every game live. Thursday’s match will be shown on Sky Sports Cricket from 2.50pm GMT. Coverage on Sky Sports Main Event starts at 3pm.
In India, the games can be streamed on the Jio Cinema app and website. They are also available across the Star Sports Network.
Moments of friendship with our visitors from Punjab! ❤️💙@vijayshankar260 | #AavaDe | #GTKarshe | #TATAIPL2024 | #GTvPBKS pic.twitter.com/vf8KlBMPjh
— Gujarat Titans (@gujarat_titans) April 2, 2024
Prediction
With the Kings losing back-to-back matches on their travels, the Titans go into Thursday’s contest as favourites, and we’re backing them to make it three wins from their first four games of the year.
The Titans’ batting performance has appeared somewhat lacklustre overall this season, though Sai Sudharsan impressed with his steady knock of 45 against the Sunrisers and will be looking for more of the same here. With the likes of Noor, Khan and Sharma in great nick on the other side of the ball, the Titans should just have too much for the struggling visitors.
Master at work! 💪#AavaDe | #GTKarshe | #TATAIPL2024 pic.twitter.com/KdeYcmuNE3
— Gujarat Titans (@gujarat_titans) April 3, 2024
