Gujarat Titans vs Mumbai Indians: Will Hardik Pandya be able to lead his side to a clinical win against his former franchise

Gujarat Titans have won eight out of the ten matches played. Hardik Pandya led team is coming after facing their second defeat of the tournament as their key power-hitters, David Miller, Rahul Tewatia and Rashid Khan, all got dismissed for a timid score. They will look to bounce back and fetch more runs from their batting unit tonight. Despite having one of the strongest bowling attacks this season, they have been inconsistent with their performance. Mohammed Shami has been exceptional except for the last over in the previous match in which Liam Livingstone smashed the bowler to fetch 30 runs and seal the game. Lockie Ferguson and Alzarri Joseph, too, have been doing reasonably well.

On the other hand, Mumbai Indians finally managed to halt their eight-match losing streak by winning the tournament's first match in their previous fixture. Though they are out of the race for playoffs, they can still change the fate of other teams by defeating them. The addition of Riley Meredith has enhanced their bowling unit strength, and he has been doing well alongside Jasprit Bumrah. With openers getting momentum, Tilak Varma and Suryakumar Yadav will have less pressure and thus be able to strike at a better rate. Tim David, too, did pretty well in the previous match. 

Players to watch out for

Batters: Tilak Varma and Hardik Pandya

Tilak Varma has been in great form from the very first match. He has scored 307 runs in 9 games at an average of 43 and a strike rate of 137. He will be looking forward to continuing with his outstanding performance. On the flip side, Hardik Pandya has been in excellent form and has scored 309 runs in 9 matches with an average of 44 and a strike rate of 132. He will be eager to put forward his best against his former franchise.

Bowlers: Mohammed Shami and Jasprit Bumrah

Mohammed Shami has been a clinical bowler with the new ball and has scalped 15 wickets in this league at an average of 21.53, whereas Jasprit Bumrah has not taken many wickets this season for his team. He will look for some wickets tonight against the Titans.

Stats to keep an eye on

• Jasprit Bumrah has gone wicketless in six out of the nine games. He had his worst in 2014 when he was wicketless for seven games out of the first nine.
• Gujarat Titans' average opening partnership has been 22 runs. Only Kolkata Knight Riders (14.40) have done worse than them this season.
• Mohammed Shami had just one wicket in four games against Mumbai Indians till IPL 2018. Since 2019, he has had 11 in six meetings against them.

For the first time this season, these teams will be facing each other, and Hardik Pandya is playing against his former franchise. It will be interesting to see if Mumbai Indians hand yet another defeat to Titans or if Hardik Pandya will lead his side to a clinical win.