IPL 2025 is all set for the clash between Gujarat Titans and Mumbai Indians at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on Saturday, March 29. Both Gujarat and Mumbai will look to make their path to victory as both teams have suffered defeat in their first respective games.
Both Gujarat and Mumbai got off to a bad start in their IPL 2025 campaigns, losing their first games to Punjab Kings and Chennai Super Kings, respectively.
The Shubman Gill-led side lost their last game at home against Punjab while chasing a massive target of 244 runs. GT fell short by 11 runs, with good fighting efforts from Sai Sudharsan and Jos Buttler, who scored 74 and 54, respectively. GT’s bowlers struggled to put an end to the run flow as PBKS’ captain Shreyas Iyer scored a massive 97 runs off 42 balls. GT’s bowlers, including Rashid Khan, Kagiso Rabada, and Sair Kishore, picked up wickets but couldn’t prevent the flow of runs.
On the other hand, Mumbai, India, who had a tough time in the last season, also lost their first against archrivals Chennai Super Kings. While batting first at Chepauk, MI batters struggled against CSK’s bowlers and managed to score 155 runs in 20 overs. Despite MI’s bowlers best efforts, CSK chased down the totall with five wickets in hand comfortably. However, in the second game against Gujarat Titans,, MI would be happy as their captain, Hardik Pandya, is back in the squad, who missed the first game due to a ban.
The Titans may hold a psychological advantage heading into their next match. While MI has won two of their five encounters against GT, they have never secured a victory at Ahmedabad’s Narendra Modi Stadium, losing all three previous games there. Last year, Mumbai came close to breaking GT’s stronghold but ultimately fell short, losing by six wickets.
MI has historically been slow off the blocks, having failed to win their opening match since 2012. However, their five IPL titles prove they excel as the tournament progresses. This means GT cannot afford to take them lightly at any stage.
Pitch Report
The Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad is renowned for its batting-friendly pitch with good bounce. The average first-innings score hovers around 200, making it a haven for batters. In the last game here, over 450 runs were scored, setting the stage for another high-scoring encounter. While pacers may find some movement early on, the pitch tends to slow down as the match progresses, bringing spinners into play. Dew is expected in the second innings, which could influence captains to bowl first. The weather remains clear, with no rain in the forecast. For the upcoming match, the surface is expected to stay flat, similar to the previous game.
Gujarat Titans:
Shubman Gill (c), Jos Buttler (wk), Sai Sudharsan, Shahrukh Khan, Rahul Tewatia, Ravisrinivasan Sai Kishore, Arshad Khan, Rashid Khan, Kagiso Rabada, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Sherfane Rutherford
Mumbai Indians:
Rohit Sharma, Ryan Rickelton (wk), Will Jacks, Suryakumar Yadav, Tilak Varma, Naman Dhir, Hardik Pandya (c), Mitchell Santner, Deepak Chahar, Trent Boult, Satyanarayana Raju, Vignesh Puthur
Comments