IPL 2022: GT opt to field against RR in first Qualifier

Kolkata: Gujarat Titans skipper Hardik Pandya won the toss and opted to field against Rajasthan Royals in Qualifier 1 of the IPL 2022 here at the Eden Gardens on Tuesday.

The two teams have reached knock-outs after a tough IPL. While Gujarat Titans impressed on their debut except for a match or two, Rajasthan Royals had some misses but regained their form. The match will decide the first IPL 2022 finalist. The team which will lose today’s match will get another chance to enter the final through qualifier two.

Gujarat are coming to the match after they lost their last fixture against Royal Challengers Bangalore with Virat Kohli and Faf du Plessis scoring at ease against them.

The Royals have played a couple of brilliant games to secure the berth, trumping over the Super Giants and the Super Kings in consecutive games. They have had some reliable batting to back them while their bowlers have been kissing heights regularly.

At the time of toss, Hardik Pandya, GT skipper said: “We gonna bowl first. Looks a decent track to bat on, but no matches in the last couple of months (at Eden Gardens) and just want to know what we are chasing. Boys are pretty pumped up for this game.”

“We treat this game as simple as possible and make sure you focus on what is controllable and making sure the intensity is high and aware of what the situation demands. Only one change. Alzarri (Joseph) comes in for Lockie,” he added.

Rajasthan captain Sanju Samson said: “We have done well batting first, looks like a decent batting wicket let’s see what happens. Important to keep your focus on the present game and take care of what is controllable.”

“We have been playing some great cricket throughout the tournament and would like to repeat it again and I think the format is such that you can go here there, but like to keep it simple and maintain our standards. We are playing the same team,” he said.

Gujarat Titans (Playing XI): Wriddhiman Saha(w), Shubman Gill, Matthew Wade, Hardik Pandya(c), David Miller, Rahul Tewatia, Rashid Khan, Ravisrinivasan Sai Kishore, Yash Dayal, Alzarri Joseph, and Mohammed Shami.

Rajasthan Royals (Playing XI): Yashasvi Jaiswal, Jos Buttler, Sanju Samson(w/c), Devdutt Padikkal, Ravichandran Ashwin, Shimron Hetmyer, Riyan Parag, Trent Boult, Prasidh Krishna, Yuzvendra Chahal, and Obed McCoy.