The Playing XI, Match Preview and Pitch Report are ready for the 4th match of IPL 2022!
The two new franchises of the Indian Premier League will face each other in the first game in their history. The Lucknow Super Giants, owned by Sanjiv Goenka and Gujarat Titans, owned by CVC Capital, will make their IPL debut at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.
Goenka Group, who also owned the Rising Pune Super Giants in 2016 and 2017, used that experience well to assemble a very good squad while the Gujarat Titans have also gathered a decent squad.
The Lucknow Super Giants signed KL Rahul, Marcus Stoinis and Ravi Bishnoi while the Gujarat Titans snapped up Hardik Pandya, Rashid Khan and Shubman Gill before the mega auction.
Lucknow went big on all-rounders, signing the likes of Krunal Pandya, Deepak Hooda and Jason Holder. Gujarat Titans spent big on Lockie Ferguson, Rahul Tewatia and Mohammed Shami.
LSG vs GT Probable XI
Lucknow Super Giants Probable XI: Quinton de Kock (wk), KL Rahul (C), Manish Pandey, Marcus Stoinis, Deepak Hooda, Krunal Pandya, Jason Holder, Krishnappa Gowtham, Avesh Khan, Mark Wood, Ravi Bhishnoi
Gujarat Titans Probable XI: Shubman Gill, Abhinav Manohar, Vijay Shankar, Hardik Pandya (C), David Miller, Matthew Wade, Rahul Tewatia, Jayant Yadav/Gurkeerat Singh Mann, Rashid Khan, Lockie Ferguson, Mohammed Shami
Rashid Khan and Jayant Yadav will enjoy bowling against the 5 right-handers in Lucknow’s batting line-up as the Afghanistan bowler has an economy of 4.68 at the Wankhede Stadium. Jason Roy opted out of the IPL owing to bubble fatigue, which comes as a huge blow to the Gujarat Titans.
Gujarat Titans can particularly target Manish Pandey, who is horribly out of form and has a tendency to get stuck at the crease. Finishing the innings could be a problem for Gujarat if David Miller and Matthew Wade don’t deliver for them as neither has played international cricket for a long time.
The variety of all-rounders in the side would give plenty of options for their captain KL Rahul, who himself has to flourish at the top of the order. The prospect of Avesh Khan and Mark Wood bowling at close to 145kmph in tandem will be exciting to watch.
Lucknow Super Giants vs Gujarat Titans Match Details
Match: Indian Premier League 2022, Match number 04.
Teams: Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) vs Gujarat Titans (GT)
Date/Day: Monday/28th March 2022
Venue: Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai
Time: 7:30 PM IST
LSG vs GT Pitch Report
The pitch at the Wankhede Stadium has generally favoured the batsmen and there is no reason to suggest otherwise. The average first innings score at this venue over the last four years in T20 cricket is 174, which suggests it is a good pitch to bat on.
The captain who wins the toss will probably have to choose to bowl first, as there will be dew later on, although the stats show that the teams batting first have won 50% of the games. There will be good bounce and swing early for the fast-bowlers while the off-spinners have enjoyed decent success, conceding runs at just 7.4 per over.
LSG vs GT Prediction
This is a very tough game to call as both teams are playing their first match but the all-around options that the Lucknow Super Giants have along with KL Rahul should make them slight favourites going into this game.
Follow the full IPL 2022 schedule and match predictions before you go ahead and place your cricket bets.
