GT face rampant RCB at home

Searching for some much-needed consistency, Gujarat Titans face a stern test against a red-hot Royal Challengers Bengaluru in their Indian Premier League match here on Thursday.

At the halfway stage of the tournament, Gujarat Titans find themselves stuck in mid-table with four wins and as many losses from eight games.

In contrast, defending champions RCB have been in imperious form, registering six victories in eight matches.

RCB’s new ball duo of Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Josh Hazlewood has wreaked havoc in tandem. While Bhuvneshwar has turned back the clock with his swing masterclass, Hazlewood has troubled the batters with Test match lengths targeting the outside edge.

Add to that, the challenge of facing Krundal Pandya and his barrage of variations in the middle overs.

GT have been labelled as top heavy with Sai Sudharsan, captain Shubman Gill and Jos Buttler again scoring the bulk of the runs. Washington Sundar has proved himself in the middle order while finishers like Shahrukh Khan and Rahul Tewatia have not set the stage on fire yet.

Jason Holder has been accommodated in the middle-order to lend more potency.

Both sides met only a week ago at the Chinnaswamy with RCB comfortably chasing down 206 with seven balls to spare. GT have also not been able to dominate at home, having lost two of their three games at Motera.