It’s Titans’ lethal pace attack Vs dynamic Punjab’s top order

Gujarat Titans’ lethal pace attack is all set to ask some probing questions to the dynamic Punjab Kings top-order when the two teams lock horns in an IPL match on Friday.

In terms of composition and balance, both Gujarat and Punjab are very different and that makes for an enticing contest on a Brabourne Stadium track where runs are always on offer.

Punjab in their three games have shown that the approach this year would be to go hammer and tongs during the Powerplay overs and set the tempo for the rest of the innings.

In IPL however, there are some intriguing sub-plots that make it an engaging Friday. It will be a battle between Punjab’s costliest buy (apart from skipper Mayank Agarwal’s retention) Liam Livingstone and New Zealand’s speed merchant Lockie Ferguson.

Ferguson and Mohammed Shami make for the most potent new ball pair after the first two weeks. With head coach Anil Kumble they would like to devise a strategy to keep Punjab Kings under check during the Powerplay overs.

Hardik Pandya again bowling full tilt and touching 140 clicks also adds to the potency of the Gujarat attack but their batting still looks a bit questionable save Shubman Gill and skipper Pandya.

While senior openers Shikhar Dhawan and skipper Agarwal are yet to make significant contributions, it would be an onerous job against the Titans attack. It is the middle-order of Bhanuka Rajapaksa, Livingstone and newcomer Jitesh Sharma, that is expected to provide fireworks with M Shahrukh Khan and Odean Smith at the rear.

However, where Gujarat might face problems is in the batting front. Shubhman Gill is the only assured batter they have till now.

Vijay Shankar as a toporder batter has looked far from convincing and Matthew Wade hasn’t yet hit the rhythm although he is capable of big hits.

Abhinav Manohar is very new at this stage while Tewatia and David Miller aren’t exactly known for their consistency.