Gujarat Titans eye collective improvement against refreshed Royal Challengers

To begin with, the Gujarat side needs their pacers to step up. Their pace bowling unit has been underwhelming throughout this IPL

In need of a total reboot, Gujarat Titans will be wary of Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s newfound firepower in the middle-order when the two teams clash in the Indian Premier League here on Sunday.

The Titans are now seventh on the table with eight points from nine matches, and they require a victory to float above the growing pile, constituted by Chennai Super Kings and Delhi Capitals who are also on eight points.

To begin with, the Gujarat side needs their pacers to step up. Their pace bowling unit has been underwhelming throughout this IPL.

Mohit Sharma (10 wickets, economy: 10.35), Umesh Yadav (7 wickets, 10.55), Sandeep Warrier (5 wickets, 10.85) have leaked runs in plenty while backup quicks such as Spencer Johnson and Azmatullah Omarzai too have not inspired much confidence.

Their spinners – Rashid Khan (8 wickets), R Sai Kishore and Noor Ahmad (6 wickets each) – have been steady without being spectacular.

The troika’s task will be even harder now considering RCB have found a flicker of hope in their middle-order consisting of Rajat Patidar and Cameron Green. They can take consolation from the fact that dew will not be a significant factor in a day game, but tackling Patidar, in particular, and Green need much more than help from conditions.

After a modest beginning to the season, Patidar has shown smidgeons of his batting skills, especially against the spinners.

He made forceful fifties while tackling Sunil Narine and Varun Chakravarthy (KKR) and Mayank Markande (SRH) in the last two matches while batting through the middle phase. While his 23-ball 52 carried RCB nearly home against Kolkata, Patidar’s 20-ball 50 came in a winning cause against Hyderabad.

The right-hander, whose strength is his excellent eyehand coordination rather than innovation, will be eager to make a similar impact against the GT spinners. Green too was impressive during his 20-ball 37 against the Sunrisers that took RCB past the 200-run mark.

It has also helped RCB reduce their dependency on Dinesh Karthik and Mahipal Lomror down the order for a late thrust, besides freeing opener Virat Kohli and Faf du Plessis of the burden of scoring in almost every match.

The GT batters would also like to take a cue from their RCB counterparts. Sai Sudharsan and skipper Shubman Gill have scored upwards of 300 runs in this IPL, making three combined fifties, but the GT middleorder has not really been able to do a follow-up act.

The home side will require a heftier contribution from them against the RCB bowlers, who were on the money against SRH while defending 207.

The Titans are now seventh on the table with eight points from nine matches