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Big picture – Which team is in rhythm?
But that same adrenaline can blur the truth. Reality is that both wins were narrow escapes after far-from-perfect outings. Creases still need ironing out. GT’s batting – although consistent – remains stuck somewhere between fourth and fifth gear, potentially due to an undercooked middle and lower-middle order while Mohammed Siraj is lacking incisiveness in the powerplay. Jos Buttler, Washington Sundar and Rashid Khan are steadily getting into form although Kagiso Rabada, Prasidh Krishna and Siraj haven’t had the impact GT would like to see.
That makes this meeting an interesting checkpoint. The adrenaline of last-ball wins can carry a team only so far. This game will show which side is actually in rhythm, and which has just been surviving the margins a little better.
Key question
Jason Holder has not played any IPL 2026 game but he is an in-form allrounder GT could play. He took the most T20 wickets in the 2025 calendar year, and at the 2026 T20 World Cup he impressed with scores of 33, 49 and 37* against England, South Africa and India respectively. He also took 10 wickets at the T20 World Cup. Should GT give him a go, instead of Glenn Phillips or Kagiso Rabada?
Team news
GT are comfortable using five bowlers, with Washington Sundar being used sporadically depending on match-ups. Kushagra or Holder would be tempting options, but otherwise, the team prefers stability in their XIs, and seamer Ashok Sharma could keep his place in the XII.
Gujarat Titans XII: 1 B Sai Sudharsan, 2 Shubman Gill (capt), 3 Jos Buttler (wk), 4 Washington Sundar, 5 Glenn Phillips, 6 Rahul Tewatia, 7 Shahrukh Khan/Kumar Kushagra, 8 Rashid Khan, 9 Kagiso Rabada, 10 Ashok Sharma, 11 Prasidh Krishna, 12 Mohammed Siraj
Lucknow Super Giants XII: 1 Aiden Markram, 2 Mitchell Marsh, 3 Rishabh Pant (capt, wk), 4 Ayush Badoni, 5 Nicholas Pooran, 6 Abdul Samad, 7 Mukul Choudhary, 8 Mohammed Shami, 9 George Linde, 10 Avesh Khan, 11 Prince Yadav, 12 Digvesh Rathi
In the spotlight
Mohammed Siraj was RCB’s go-to powerplay bowler, and for GT he is supposed to be that too. But he had two wicketless overs against Punjab Kings – he did not bowl anymore that day – and across the two games against DC and Rajasthan Royals, his only two wickets of the season came in the 17th and 20th overs respectively. He also conceded 100 in eight overs against RR and DC. When will his first powerplay wicket of IPL 2026 arrive?
Runs have been hard to come by for Nicholas Pooran. He has not crossed 17 in 10 of his last 11 T20s, a run extending from the SA20 followed by no cricket in February and March and then across the first three IPL 2026 games. In IPL, he is averaging 7.33 in three games. His dynamic batting makes him tough to drop, but how long a rope will LSG give him?
Stats and trivia
- Rashid is back to his best. In 2025, he averaged 57.1, had an economy of 9.3 and needed 37 balls for every wicket. In his five T20 appearances in 2026, he has an average of 17, economy of 7.1 and takes a wicket every 14 balls.
Pitch and conditions
This will be the first day game on pitch no. 4 at Ekana Stadium in IPL history. Across the four evening games played on this strip, the chasing side has won the last three matches. But it’s tough to determine a winning total as first-innings scores as varied as 144, 166 and 227 have been chased down. It is expected to be a scorching afternoon.
Next three games
Lucknow Super Giants
April 15: Royal Challengers Bengaluru, Bengaluru
April 19: Punjab Kings, New Chandigarh
April 22: Rajasthan Royals, Lucknow
Gujarat Titans
April 17: Kolkata Knight Riders, Ahmedabad
April 20: Mumbai Indians, Ahmedabad
April 24: Royal Challengers Bengaluru, Bengaluru
Sreshth Shah is a sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo. @sreshthx
