The fans were up for a big surprise at the toss ceremony for the league stage game between Gujarat Titans and Kolkata Knight Riders as Rashid Khan was standing for the ceremony in place of Hardik Pandya. Rashid is the designated vice-captain of Gujarat Titans (GT). He led the team in one fixture last year as well.
Speaking at the toss, Rashid revealed the reason behind Pandya’s absence and revealed that the captain is unwell. He hoped that Pandya would be fit for the next fixture.
The all-rounder has led GT to a dominant start in the 2023 Indian Premier League (IPL) with wins over the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and the Delhi Capitals (DC) in a bid to defend their title.
Despite the team’s dominant start, Hardik has not been at his best with either the bat or ball so far. He was bowled by Ravindra Jadeja in the season opener and was not among the runs in GT’s comfortable win over DC as well.
Playing XI for both the sides as Hardik Pandya sits this one out
GT have opted to bat first in the first-ever afternoon IPL contest at the Narendra Modi Stadium. KKR, meanwhile, have named two changes to their playing XI with Lockie Ferguson and N Jagadeesan coming in for Tim Southee and Mandeep Singh.
Gujarat Titans: Wriddhiman Saha, Shubman Gill, Sai Sudharsan, Vijay Shankar, David Miller, Rahul Tewatia, Abhinav Manohar, Rashid Khan, Mohammed Shami, Alzarri Joseph, Yash Dayal
Vijay was part of the playing XI in the opening game of the season against Chennai Super Kings while he was used an Impact Player during the second game as a batsman. So the all-rounder has played both matches and is set to play his third game of the season.
Since Hardik is absent for this fixture, Vijay might have to bowl in his absence. The right-arm pacer is a proper all-rounder and can chip in with crucial wickets.
Kolkata Knight Riders: Rahmanullah Gurbaz, N Jagadeesan, Nitish Rana, Rinku Singh, Andre Russell, Sunil Narine, Shardul Thakur, Suyash Sharma, Lockie Ferguson, Umesh Yadav, Varun Chakaravarthy
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