Vaibhav Sooryavanshi faces tough test against Gujarat Titans pace attack

Vaibhav Sooryavanshi faces a stern challenge against Gujarat Titans’ pace attack as Rajasthan Royals look to continue their strong run. Titans will depend on their bowlers while concerns remain over batting form and middle-order consistency

Ahmedabad: A pace attack comprising Kagiso Rabada, Prasidh Krishna and Mohammed Siraj does present an intimidating look, but the troika will have its task cut out when ‘Boy Wonder’ Vaibhav Sooryavanshi faces them on a batting-friendly track, with Rajasthan Royals starting as favourites against Gujarat Titans in an IPL match here on Saturday.

The second phase of “Vaibhav Kand” has started with the 15-year-old demolishing the Chennai Super Kings attack for a 15-ball 50, but that was in a chase of 127 and against a relatively weaker attack.

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On Saturday at the Narendra Modi Stadium, Sooryavanshi will once again try to take on the bowlers, but there will be three international bowlers of repute in Rabada, Siraj and Prasidh, who would like to test the young batter.

For Titans skipper Shubman Gill, one would expect him to take more prudent decisions unlike in the opener at Mullanpur, where Siraj was given only two overs and Prasidh was introduced as late as the 13th over.

On the batting front, the track at the Narendra Modi Stadium is expected to favour stroke play. The trend in the tournament so far has been to chase, and Rajasthan Royals, with Nandre Burger and Jofra Archer, two tearaway quicks at their disposal, would like to test Gill, Sai Sudharsan and Jos Buttler early.

The problem with the GT line-up is their top three batters, who are not scoring at a high strike rate. Both skipper Gill (39 off 27 balls) and Buttler (38 off 33 balls) did not look in form against Punjab Kings at Mullanpur. Sudharsan (13 off 11 balls) is also trying to find his rhythm after an injury break.

It does not help that the top three, on whom the Titans’ batting depends, have not been in great touch and are struggling for form. Their Indian middle order comprising Shahrukh Khan, Washington Sundar and Rahul Tewatia has also not inspired much confidence.

Washington, a player rated for his all-round skills and recently part of the T20 World Cup-winning squad, has been inconsistent in this format. With 529 runs and a batting strike rate of 125 from 67 IPL matches, along with 40 wickets at an economy rate of 7.71, the Tamil Nadu player has not been able to establish a defined role.

Against Rajasthan Royals, the Titans, if they bat first, need to score at least 220 to give their bowlers a chance to attack Sooryavanshi. If they chase, they need to restrict the opposition to under 200. Their death overs batting over the past two seasons has not been very effective.

Tewatia, who rarely bowls even for his state team Haryana, has not looked attacking from the start. Shahrukh has struggled against quality bowling, and it is surprising that a coach of Ashish Nehra’s experience has not found a suitable alternative.

As far as Royals are concerned, the team looks strong on paper despite questions over the appointment of Assam’s Riyan Parag as captain, overlooking players like Ravindra Jadeja, Yashasvi Jaiswal and Dhruv Jurel.

How the batting performs under pressure will determine how the Royals fare this season, their last under the current management before the Kal Somani-led consortium takes over next year.

Squads:
Rajasthan Royals: Riyan Parag (c), Dhruv Jurel, Donovan Ferreira, Lhuan-Dre Pretorius, Ravi Singh, Aman Perala, Shimron Hetmyer, Shubham Dubey, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Ravindra Jadeja, Sam Curran, Adam Milne, Brijesh Sharma, Jofra Archer, Kuldeep Sen, Kwena Maphaka, Nandre Burger, Ravi Bishnoi and Sandeep Sharma.

Gujarat Titans: Shubman Gill (c), Sai Sudharsan, Kumar Kushagra, Anuj Rawat, Jos Buttler, Nishant Sindhu, Washington Sundar, Arshad Khan, Shahrukh Khan, Rahul Tewatia, Kagiso Rabada, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Ishant Sharma, Gurnoor Singh Brar, Rashid Khan, Manav Suthar, Sai Kishore, Jayant Yadav, Glenn Phillips, Jason Holder, Ashok Sharma, Luke Wood, Prithvi Raj Yarra, Tom Banton.

Match starts at 7:30 pm.