Who will join Chennai Super Kings in the summit clash of IPL 2023? We will have our answer by Friday night when Gujarat Titans take on Mumbai Indians in the second qualifier set to be played at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.
GT lost to CSK in the first qualifier and now will be up against a confident MI who crushed Lucknow Super Giants by 81 runs in the Eliminator.
Ahead of the match, here’s a look at the players who could make the difference.
Akash Madhwal
Clearly, the find of the season for Mumbai Indians. The uncapped Madhwal has overdelivered for MI having inserted into the eleven after a injuries to a couple of their first-choice players. He joined them before IPL 2022 and with MI handing him debut, he has shown massive progress, almost becoming the go-to bowler for Rohit Sharma. His show against Lucknow Super Giants is one of the finest spells of the season as he ripped through their batting order for stunning figures of 5/5. In fact, in his last two IPL games, the 29-year-old has racked up nine wickets. MI will hope he continues to deliver the goods.
Shubman Gill
Till the time Gill was batting during the first qualifier for Gujarat Titans, Chennai Super Kings must have felt a sense of ease. The manner in which he scored back-to-back centuries proved how much of a threat the rising star is when in full flow. And his current form makes him GT’s biggest weapon with the bat. No wonder, he was their top scorer in the match that GT lost. However, against MI, Gill will have to be at his best and in Ahmedabad, he has been scoring plenty of runs.
Rashid Khan
The second-highest wicket-taker of the season so far, Rashid continues to be a big threat, with the ball and the bat too. He picked the important wicket of dangerous Ambati Rayudu who looked in ominous touch during the first qualifier. The legspinner has 25 wickets from 15 matches and whenever GT need to break partnership, the Afghan has delivered.
Suryakumar Yadav
With MI losing two early wickets against LSG, it was Suryakumar whose partnership with Cameron Green provided the impetus and led a quick recovery for the five-time champions. He struck two fours and as many sixes in his 20-ball 33 in Chepauk and the in-form batter will hope to score big should his services be needed. He has scored 544 runs at a strike-rate of 183.78 in 15 matches this season. Ability to manipulate the fielders and play unorthodox shots with ease make him a bowler’s worst nightmare.
Cameron Green
The big-hitting Australian continues to prove that MI were right in making him the second most costliest player in IPL auction history. Green scored a century against SRH to help MI seal a vital win that kept their playoffs hopes alive. And when they qualified, produced another vital innings of 41 off just 23 deliveries in a swift recovery that set the base for a challenging total against LSG. He was quite economical with the ball too as his three overs resulted in just 15 runs. While the allrounder may have not made a major impact with the ball but his contributions with the bat have surely proved decisive.
Mohammed Shami
The purple cap holder. Shami has consistently picked wicket for GT throughout the season. Against CSK, he took two wickets including that of well-set Devon Conway and big-hitting Ravindra Jadeja in four overs. It was in Ahmedabad that Shami produced a fiery spell in the Powerplay that left Delhi Capitals reeling earlier this season. Shami and his GT captain would want a repeat of that as they target a second straight final. So far, the 32-year-old has taken 26 wickets in 15 matches at an economy of 7.66.
Comments
0 comment