(Cricket news) Gujarat Titans are looking to regain their top spot as they host Kolkata Knight Riders. The defending champions have started the new season exactly where they left out. Kolkata Knight Riders on the other hand lost their rain affected opening encounter against Punjab Kings. They bounced back with an incredible 81 run win over Royal Challengers Bangalore despite being in a very difficult position early on. The two teams faced each other last season and Gujarat Titans won by 8 runs on that occasion. 

Gujarat Titans ideal playing XI:

Wriddhiman Saha (wk), Shubman Gill, Sai Sudharsan, Hardik Pandya (c), David Miller, Rahul Tewatia, Rashid Khan, Mohammed Shami, Joshua Little, Alzarri Joseph, Yash Dayal/Vijay Shankar

Bench:

Ravisrinivasan Sai Kishore, Jayant Yadav, Abhinav Manohar, Srikar Bharat, Mohit Sharma, Pradeep Sangwan, Matthew Wade, Odean Smith, Shivam Mavi, Darshan Nalkande, Urvil Patel

Gujarat Titans are likely to retain the same playing XI. The impact player could change depending on the situation. In a low scoring game Vijay Shankar is better while Abhinav Manohar will be a better option for a high scoring game. Sai Sudarshan has pretty much cemented his place in the team with his match winning 48 ball 62. The bowling attack is also looking very potent as all the bowlers have contributed in the two games. Dealing with Kolkata Knight Riders’ mystery spinner is going to be a very big task for the Gujarat Titans.

Kolkata Knight Riders ideal playing XI:

Mandeep Singh/Suyash Sharma, Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), Venkatesh Iyer, Nitish Rana (c), Rinku Singh, Andre Russell, Shardul Thakur, Sunil Narine, Tim Southee, Umesh Yadav, Varun Chakaravarthy

Bench:

Anukul Roy, Vaibhav Arora, N Jagadeesan, David Wiese, Kulwant Khejroliya, Harshit Rana, Lockie Ferguson, Jason Roy

Jason Roy has joined the team but it will be difficult to accommodate him into the line-up. Lockie Ferguson is still a doubt so Tim Southee is likely to continue. They could drop Southee for an indian seamer to make Roy open. The pressure is on Mandeep Singh now as one more under par innings could force the team to drop him. Suyash Sharma had an incredible debut and he should continue in the team because he has the ability to trouble the Gujarat Titans batters.

Also read: Should IPL performances be considered for selection in other formats?