IPL 2022, GT vs LSG Highlights: Gujarat Titans overcome tense moments to beat Lucknow Super Giants on debut

The pitch has a bit less grass today and it looks like a dry surface. Don't forget the dew factor that will come into the picture later. A good toss to win on captaincy debut.

All eyes on the lethal opening duo of Rahul and de Kock. The two exciting batters joined the new IPL franchise from Punjab Kings and Mumbai Indians and they are set to start a new IPL chapter today.

Rashid Khan has got LSG skipper KL Rahul three times in five IPL innings. An exciting battle coming up! Spotlight will also be on Shami and Ferguson, who will look for early wickets with the new ball.

"It's always good to have that Purple Cap. But more than that I will try and contribute whatever the team needs of me and if that is dot balls. In my first year 2017 second game I had that cap and since then I never had that cap, but definitely will be a great feeling to have that," says Rashid Khan.

Three overseas players in Lucknow eleven: Evin Lewis, Quinton de Kock and Chameera. Matthew Wade, David Miller, Lockie Ferguson and Rashid Khan are Gujarat's four foreign picks.

Lucknow Super Giants: KL Rahul(c), Quinton de Kock(w), Evin Lewis, Manish Pandey, Deepak Hooda, Krunal Pandya, Mohsin Khan, Ayush Badoni, Dushmantha Chameera, Ravi Bishnoi, Avesh Khan

"The dew plays a big part in the second innings but the wicket remains the same throughout 40 overs. It is our first game and it is important to go out there and enjoy ourselves," says Rahul.

Gujarat Titans: Shubman Gill, Matthew Wade(w), Vijay Shankar, Abhinav Manohar, Hardik Pandya(c), David Miller, Rahul Tewatia, Rashid Khan, Lockie Ferguson, Varun Aaron, Mohammed Shami

"We are going to bowl. First game we want to see how exactly the wickets are playing and keeping the dew factor as well. See, assess and go through from there," says Hardik.

"It is a different role, different team but the feeling is same. We want to win here and let's see how it goes. We are going to give all the guys full freedom to express themselves."

Hardik Pandya wins toss, Gujarat Titans to bowl first at the Wankhede.

Hardik spotted bowling in the warm-up. "Entire Indian cricket fraternity will be looking at Hardik's bowling performance. He will be an automatic choice in the Indian team if he starts bowling," says Sunil Gavaskar on Star Sports.

We are moments away from the toss! Expect a cracking contest at the Wankhede. This is also Hardik's first match as captain in T20s.

The Pandya brothers will be up against each other for the first time in the IPL. Hardik earlier also called the match “two boys against one” as LSG will be led by his good friend Rahul.

"I'm sure Krunal will be standing on the side and will be laughing at me because he has never seen me do this. It will be two boys against one," he had said.

Rashid Khan has been spotted warming up in the Gujarat Titans jersey. Feels a bit weird to see him in blue, to be honest. He was a part of Sunrisers Hyderabad for five long years!

Talking about consistency, Quinton de Kock has scored 500-plus runs in the last two IPL seasons. The South African is among top players in the powerplay with 801 runs in the first six overs since 2019. We are about to see a lethal opening pair making its debut!

Hardik has got 1476 runs in 92 games at a brilliant strike rate of 153.91. Notably, he's won four IPL titles so far while Rahul is yet to lay hands on the trophy. In 94 IPL games, the Karnataka lad has scored 3273 runs at a 136.37 strike rate.

As a batter, Rahul had scored 626 runs last season with highest score of unbeaten 98 against Punjab Kings. Along with being an able captain, he's also among the top contenders for the Orange Cap this season.

Matches: 27

Won: 11

Lost: 14

Tied: 2

Runs scored: 1296

Winning percentage: 44.44

KL Rahul and Manish Pandey are the only players from the Lucknow camp who have captained an IPL franchise. Rahul has 12 wins from 27 games while Manish has none. Manish had lost the only game where he had donned the captain's armband for Hyderabad. Rahul, on the other hand, has got a win percentage of 44.44.

Bishnoi, who can deceive the batters with his googlies. Rashid is no different. But Avesh Khan will look for that early movement. He became the most expensive uncapped Indian player after Lucknow Super Giants signed him for a staggering ₹10 crore. He had a base price of ₹20 lakh.

The team winning the toss would opt to bat first considering the dew factor. It will be interesting if either team plays an extra spinner on the surface.

The tournament opener between CSK and KKR at the Wankhede saw Umesh Yadav getting some early movement and the dew factor also coming into the picture. Chennai managed to post just 131 despite MS Dhoni special on a ground where teams often post 180-plus total. The average score here is 194 in the first innings.

Australia's Matthew Wade will be playing in the IPL after a decade-long gap. Wade is back in the lucrative T20 league for the first time in 11 years and he could also open with Shubman Gill.

"It's the start of something new and something very special. The response we've gotten from the people of UP has been overwhelming. Keep supporting us and hope we start off with a win," says Lucknow Super Giants skipper KL Rahul in a video shared by the franchise.

While Rashid will be orchestrating the spin attack, Shami can take care of the death over bowling for the Titans. The Indian pacer has got 23 wickets in death overs since 2020. Having got a wide pool of spinners, GT can also try out Jayant Yadav and Sai Kishore as the second pick.