DC vs GT, IPL 2023 Highlights: Sai Sudharsan leads clinical Gujarat Titans to six-wicket win over Delhi Capitals

What a first over that was, 11 runs despite the fact that Shami had Warner on his toes. He bowled two wides before and after the first legal delivery, cut Warner in half a couple of times and then conceded five wides off the last ball.

Inside edge but it flies past the wicketkeeper! There have been two big caught behind appeals before this and as it turns out, the first time there really was a nick but GT didn't take the review, and the second time the ball brushed against the off stump! 

Mohammed Shami bowling the first over. Prithvi Shaw and David Warner are opening the batting for DC. Here we go!

That is a pretty big call from Delhi Capitals, leaving out the West Indies big hitter. That is because of the fact that they had to fit in Anrich Nortje. DC have decided to stick with Rilee Rossouw who will play in the position that Powell occupied.

Prithvi Shaw, David Warner(c), Mitchell Marsh, Rilee Rossouw, Sarfaraz Khan(w), Axar Patel, Abishek Porel, Kuldeep Yadav, Aman Hakim Khan, Anrich Nortje, Mukesh Kumar

Wriddhiman Saha(w), Shubman Gill, Sai Sudharsan, Hardik Pandya(c), David Miller, Rahul Tewatia, Rashid Khan, Mohammed Shami, Joshua Little, Yash Dayal, Alzarri Joseph

“Looks like a nice wicket. Have to come out with positive intent and post a good total. It's awesome. What a good turnout it is tonight. Hopefully we can make it our fortress. Anrich and Porel come in. Rovman misses out. It's a long tournament, going to be a few harsh calls.”

“Going to bowl first. Not sure how the wicket is going to play. Obviously losing Kane - we're gutted. Especially for him. As a team we can manage, but gutted for him. Miller comes in for Kane. Sai Sudharsan comes in for Vijay. Not much talking in our team. Just about keeping things simple and focusing on controllables. Pitch looks fantastic. Dew might kick in later.”

Hardik Pandya wins the toss and Gujarat Titans will bowl first. Delhi Capitals have dropped Rovman Powell!

Williamson injured his knee while pulling off a truly extraordinary fielding effort yesterday at the boundary line for Gujarat Titans against Chennai Super Kings to stop a six. He had to be helped off the field and is reportedly ruled out of the IPL. While that in itself is sad, let us hope that he recovers well over the course of this tournament and this does not become the start of another injury saga for the former New Zealand captain. Williamson had recently gone on a century-scoring spree, even leading the Kiwis to a thrilling last ball win against Sri Lanka with an unbeaten ton which confirmed a WTC final spot for India. It is in Test cricket that players like Williamson become a true joy to watch and let's hope that this knee issue doesn't hinder his flow of runs any more.

Well as stated before, the South Africans are available at last and that means the Titans have got Miller, one of the heroes of their title winning campaign last season, to pick from today. As if they weren't looking strong enough in the first match already. 

Here is what Aaron Finch had to say about the pitch. "Dimensions - 64 metres either side, 70 metres down the ground. This wicket is smack bang in the middle. Remember what we saw a couple of weeks ago in the Test match, there was not a blade of grass to be seen. This wicket has a nice even covering of grass. This is an unbelievably flat wicket. I expect there will be a little bit more pace and a little bit more carry to assist the swing and the seam bowlers. But there are a couple of parts on this wicket that are very dry. Even though they are dry, don't expect that to have a huge influence on this game. 165 is the average score here. The trend of this tournament has been teams wanting to chase. Personally, I wouldn't be against trying to bat first, get a big total and try and put as much pressure on the opposition as you can."

Everyone has followed the pattern of winning the toss and bowling first and it is to be noted that thus far, teams batting second have won just twice in the six matches that have been played thus far. 

DC kept Aman Khan, a medium pacer who is also a gun fielder, out of the team until the last over of the opposition innings. By that time, the misfields and dropped catches had done the damage. Wonder if they will do something different today.

Anrich Nortje and Lungi Ngidi are available for selection for the Delhi Capitals, which will make them very happy indeed. Ganguly did say that the ineffectiveness of DC's pace attack hurt them last time around and the return of these two gentlemen will help them a lot. 

DC are this season a top heavy batting order and yet, it is only one player who is almost guaranteed to give runs based on recent performances in cricket matches played at a comparable level. 

There was a brief drizzle on Monday, and there is a possibility of a passing shower even on the match day. But there is unlikely to be much threat to the game. On a fresh track and a small ground, it should be a high-scoring encounter.

Sarfaraz Khan is Delhi Capitals' makeshift wicketkeeper and the fact that he has hardly played in that role showed in their previous game. Ganguly did brush away any issues in that department as well. “The game has changed. At this level, the pressure is different. He kept wickets for Mumbai in this year’s Vijay Hazare Trophy. Sarfaraz Khan has just kept in one match. So, judging him for 20 overs is not fair.”

It looks like Shubman Gill is set to transfer the form he hit in international cricket to the IPL. In a year in which he has scored five centuries across formats, including an ODI double century, Gill started the season with a masterful 63 off 36 balls against CSK which set the tone for GT in their succesfull run chase. 

“Everyone has to learn to play fast bowling. They are good. It is just that they got out. Shaw has scored runs against genuine pace in the past. It is just one ball that went through him. Even Mitch Marsh, who has played fast bowling all his life, got out early to Wood. You have got to give credit to Mark Wood for the way he bowled”

Apart from the poor fielding in the first 10 overs that gave LSG all those free runs and let Kyle Mayers off the hook (and unleash havoc), DC fell like a pack of cards to the pace of Mark Wood. Sunil Gavaskar pointed the technical error Prithvi Shaw made when he became Wood's first wicket of the day and the England pacer went on to take four more wickets.

It was first reported that RCB will be without Rajat Patidar for the season. Then RCB, almost as if to show those pesky reporters who is boss, included Patidar in their squad for the season but didn't play him in the first match. Now RCB have come out and said that Patidar is indeed ruled out for the season. “Unfortunately, Rajat Patidar has been ruled out of #IPL2023 due to an Achilles Heel injury. We wish Rajat a speedy recovery and will continue to support him during the process. The coaches and management have decided not to name a replacement player for Rajat just yet,” the franchise has said. Wonder what the next chapter is in this magical story of injuries that has seen MI's Jasprit Bumrah going around town in Mumbai, attending tournament finals and big celebrity love-ins at art launches while having a dodgy back that has kept him out for nearly 10 months now. 

There are only so many shades of blue that exist and it seems half of the teams in the IPL are going to try and explore all of them before the end of the next season. DC seem to have exhausted their quota this year already. 

Is it sky blue? Yes.

Is there dark blue in it? Yes.

Is there navy blue in it? Yes.

Just how blue is it? Yes

At some point teams will have to consider the fact that trying to look like the Indian team and nothing else may not really help generate support. Performances do. This is a sport after all.

Delhi Capitals' regular skipper and wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant, who is currently recovering from injuries sustained in a car accident last year, will attend his side's first home match of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 match against defending champions Gujarat Titans in Delhi on Tuesday, confirmed Delhi & District Cricket Association (DDCA) on Monday.

Wriddhiman Saha(w), Shubman Gill, Sai Sudharsan, Hardik Pandya(c), Vijay Shankar, Rahul Tewatia, Rashid Khan, Mohammed Shami, Joshua Little, Yash Dayal, Alzarri Joseph, Jayant Yadav, Mohit Sharma, Srikar Bharat, Abhinav Manohar, Pradeep Sangwan, Matthew Wade, Odean Smith, David Miller, Ravisrinivasan Sai Kishore, Shivam Mavi, Darshan Nalkande, Urvil Patel