Rashid Khan came out for toss instead of Hardik Pandya as Gujarat Titans won the toss and elected to bowl against defending champions Chennai Super Kings at the MCA Stadium in Pune on Sunday. The Titans handed debuts to Wriddhiman Saha and Alzzari Joseph as wicketkeeper-batter Matthew Wade and regular skipper Hardik went out of the starting eleven.
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Stand-in captain Rashid explained Hardik's absence from the setup and shared his thoughts on leading the camp in the crucial tie against the Chennai outfit. Wade's form has been a concern and the Australian has made way for former Sunrisers Hyderabad man Saha, who has got plenty of IPL experience under his belt. Talking about Joseph, the Antiguan had a fairytale start in the IPL. On his Mumbai Indians debut, he picked up 6/12 against Sunrisers Hyderabad, who were bundled out for just 96 in 2019.
Rashid, who is just one wicket away from 100 IPL plucks, will look to steer Gujarat to fifth IPL win and help them clinch the top spot in points table. Rashid is now the second-youngest overseas captain in the IPL after Steve Smith.
“We would like to bowl first. Bit of stiffness in the groin area for Hardik, so as a team we didn't want to take a chance. He will rest and hopefully be back for the next game. Super excited, it's kind of a dream. So I just want to learn as much as I can and give 100 per cent. Matthew Wade is out and Saha is in. It's just to balance it out as Hardik is absent,” said Rashid at the toss.
{{/usCountry}}“We would like to bowl first. Bit of stiffness in the groin area for Hardik, so as a team we didn't want to take a chance. He will rest and hopefully be back for the next game. Super excited, it's kind of a dream. So I just want to learn as much as I can and give 100 per cent. Matthew Wade is out and Saha is in. It's just to balance it out as Hardik is absent,” said Rashid at the toss.
{{/usCountry}}Four-time title winners Chennai, on the other hand, went with an unchanged eleven. Chennai have had a disappointing run so far in the 10-team IPL edition. They lost their first four matches before opening account with a 23-run win over Royal Challengers Bangalore.
"We would have bowled first as well. Now we will look to put a good score on the board and put pressure on them. After the last game we had a day off and back to basics with the training and stuff. Same team for us," said skipper Ravindra Jadeja.
Chennai Super Kings (Playing XI): Robin Uthappa, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Moeen Ali, Ambati Rayudu, Shivam Dube, Ravindra Jadeja(c), MS Dhoni(w), Dwayne Bravo, Chris Jordan, Maheesh Theekshana, Mukesh Choudhary
Gujarat Titans (Playing XI): Wriddhiman Saha(w), Shubman Gill, Vijay Shankar, David Miller, Abhinav Manohar, Rahul Tewatia, Rashid Khan(c), Alzarri Joseph, Lockie Ferguson, Yash Dayal, Mohammed Shami