IPL 2022: Two new franchises, two good friends going against each other; brothers tussling out for the bragging rights; one best T20 spinner in the world against a highly talented emerging leggie. Welcome to the IPL, Gujarat Titans and Lucknow Super Giants at the Wankhede on Monday night.
KL Rahul decided to move out of the Punjab Kings to take the leadership of the Super Giants for IPL 2022, while ‘coffee’ buddy Hardik Pandya will be leading for the first time in IPL 2022, appointed as the face of the Gujarat franchise after ending his 7-year association with the Mumbai Indians. Hardik will also go up against his brother, Krunal.
Both the teams, however, have been left little short of their full strength squad for their first match of IPL 2022, LSG more so than GT. Lucknow’s Mark Wood has been ruled out of the season due to injury; and there is no confirmation of the availability of Wood’s replacement, Andrew Tye, for the first game. They will also be without Marcus Stoinis, Jason Holder and Kyle Mayers, all on international duty currently.
For the Titans, England’s Jason Roy withdrew earlier from the tournament citing bubble fatigue; Rahmanullah Gurbaz is Roy’s replacement but unlikely to play in the eleven with both Matthew Wade and Wriddhiman Saha available. Alzarri Joseph is also unavailable for Titans’ first game.
Lucknow Supergiants have a high pace fast bowling attack with Dushmantha Chameera, Avesh Khan and Ankit Rajpoot, while their lead spinner will be young Ravi Bishnoi.
Shubman Gill will likely have Wriddhiman Saha as his opening partner; Saha has an excellent record in the powerplay in IPL cricket. Their middle-order, though, looks thin with the inconsistent Vijay Shankar and David Miller, but Hardik Pandya is expected to promote himself anytime, and Matthew Wade will be given the finishing duties.
