Today at IPL 2022, GT vs MI: It's Hardik Pandya vs Rohit Sharma in clash of toppers vs strugglers
India Today
Today at IPL 2022, GT vs MI: Hardik Pandya will look to lead Gujarat Titans back to winning ways when they take on 5-time champions Mumbai Indians, who are reeling at the bottom of the 10-team points table.
It will be an emotional battle for Gujarat Titans captain Hardik Pandya on Friday as he faces his former franchise Mumbai Indians in Match 51 of IPL 2022. Having spent all his years in the IPL at MI, the franchise which gave Haridk a platform to showcase his skills to the world, Hardik has moved on and found success at Gujarat Titans, one of the two new franchises in the 10-team season.
It's a battle between two sides at the opposite ends of the points table. While Gujarat Titans are a win away from potentially booking a place in the play-offs, Mumbai Indians are already out of contention, rooted to the bottom of the table with just one win in their first 9 matches.
However, table-toppers Gujarat Titans would look to plug the holes in their top-order and return to winning ways following their defeat to Punjab Kings on May 3. It was a wake-up call for Gujarat, who have won 8 of their first 10 matches in IPL 2022 as their 5-match winning run came to an end.
Gujarat's batting failed as Hardik, who has been in fine form, had an off-day. Young Sai Sudharshan was the lone bright spot as GT managed just 143 after losing 8 wickets in their quota of 20 overs before PBKS chased down the target with 4 overs to spare. Their big guns Rahul Tewatia, David Miller and Rashid Khan also had off-days.
On the other hand, MI are heading into the match on the back of their first win of the season, which came against Rajasthan Royals. Suryakumar Yadav has been the star for MI in the batting department, which lacks a cohesive effort as captain Rohit Sharma, his opening partner Ishan Kishan and all-rounder Kieron Pollard are all struggling for form.
Gujarat Titans (last 5 matches) - Lost to Punjab Kings by 8 wickets, beat Royal Challengers Bangalore by 6 wickets, beat SunRisers Hyderabad by 5 wickets, beat Kolkata Knight Riders by runs, beat Chennai Super Kings by 3 wickets.
Mumbai Indians (last 5 matches) - beat Rajasthan Royals by 5 wickets, lost to Lucknow Super Giants by 36 runs, lost to Chennai Super Kings by 3 wickets, lost to Lucknow Super Giants by 18 runs, lost to Punjab Kings by 12 runs.
