SRH skipper Pat Cummins wins toss, opts to bowl against GT in table topper clash

AHMEDABAD: Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) skipper Pat Cummins won the toss and opted to field in their Indian Premier League (IPL) clash against the Gujarat Titans (GT) on Tuesday in Ahmedabad. Both Gujarat Titans and the Sunrisers Hyderabad have 14 points, with the winner set to climb to the top of the standings.

Led by Shubman Gill, GT head into the contest brimming with confidence after four consecutive victories, while Pat Cummins’s SRH have also hit top form, winning four of their last five matches.

Cummins said it is a crucial game. “We’re going to have a bowl first. We’ve not played here before, so have a first look at it with the ball, and then whatever we need to chase, hopefully gets a little bit easier later on. (The influence of data suggesting that teams batting first have won more games on this pitch) A little bit. I mean, there are always different variables as well. I think there’s been one or two blowout wins where they’ve bowled them out pretty cheaply in the first innings. You look at it all. It’s still a bit of a gut feel. No one can really read pitches perfectly,” he said.

Toss @SunRisers have won the toss and elected to bowl first against @gujarat_titans in Match 5⃣6⃣

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“But this is a crucial game, and it’s an intense time of the tournament. (On this game, feeling like a knockout before a knockout) I mean, no, not really. I think we’ve kind of earned the right to give ourselves a few chances and make that final. So we’ve got three games left. We haven’t played for a little while. (On GT having a superior record over SRH) Abhi (Abhishek Sharma) just mentioned that in the change room. I said perfect, nothing to lose now. All the pressure’s all on them. No changes,” Cummins added.

Shubman Gill said they were also looking to bowl first. “I’m not the one about stats and all these things, but we were also looking to bowl first. But this looks like a better wicket than we have had in the past couple of matches on this particular wicket. (On the mindset of the team) It’s all about being consistent, being consistent with your thought process, being consistent with your execution as much as possible. And this is the last bit of the end of the tournament, and it’s very important to be able to bring your A-game and give it your best. We’re going with the same team,” he said.

Sunrisers Hyderabad (Playing XI): Abhishek Sharma, Ishan Kishan(w), Heinrich Klaasen, Salil Arora, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Smaran Ravichandran, Pat Cummins(c), Shivang Kumar, Eshan Malinga, Sakib Hussain, Praful Hinge.
SRH Impact subs: Travis Head, Liam Livingstone, Aniket Verma, Harshal Patel, Harsh Dubey.

Gujarat Titans (Playing XI): Shubman Gill(c), Sai Sudharsan, Jos Buttler(w), Washington Sundar, Jason Holder, Nishant Sindhu, Rahul Tewatia, Rashid Khan, Arshad Khan, Kagiso Rabada, Mohammed Siraj.

GT Impact Subs: Prasidh Krishna, Sai Kishore, Anuj Rawat, Kumar Kushagra, Glenn Phillips. (ANI)