Shubman Gill won the toss and captaincy call as Gujarat Titans opted to field first against Lucknow Super Giants at the Ekana Stadium. There was no change to either team’s playing XI, setting up a direct contest between two sides in contrasting phases of the campaign.
Gujarat entered this clash buoyed by a dramatic turnaround in their recent outing, having edged past Delhi Capitals in a last-ball thriller. That result proved to be a timely lift as it marked Titans’ first victory in three matches, and Gill was keen for the momentum to carry forward. “Consistency is one thing we always talk about,” Gill said. “It’s the most important thing. In the first two matches, the kind of situations we were in, it went down to the wire. Two points in the previous game gives us a bit of relief. Hope to play better cricket.”
For Lucknow, the focus was less on what the toss decided and more on how they expected the game to unfold at Ekana. Rishabh Pant, who led the side, suggested that the pitch might not offer a decisive advantage to either batting approach. “With the way pitches are, batting or bowling first won’t matter,” he said. Pant also sounded genuinely encouraged by the resilience Lucknow have shown so far, highlighting their recovery after a season-opening defeat to Delhi Capitals. He pointed to the way the team responded with back-to-back wins. “For us it’s amazing, every win is important. If you win like that, it shows the character of the team,” Pant added. “It’s a great boost coming in on the back of a win, but this is a new match. Wickets and conditions may be different. We spoke of intent on the field, it was great to see us put our bodies on the line [in Kolkata].”
Playing XIs
- Lucknow Super Giants: 1 Aiden Markram, 2 Mitchell Marsh, 3 Rishabh Pant (capt, wk), 4 Ayush Badoni, 5 Nicholas Pooran, 6 Abdul Samad, 7 Mukul Choudhary, 8 Mohammed Shami, 9 Avesh Khan, 10 Prince Yadav, 11 Digvesh Rathi
- Impact bench: M Siddharth, George Linde, Shahbaz Ahmad, Mayank Yadav, Matthew Breetzke
- Gujarat Titans: 1 B Sai Sudharsan, 2 Shubman Gill (capt), 3 Jos Buttler (wk), 4 Washington Sundar, 5 Glenn Phillips, 6 Rahul Tewatia, 7 Rashid Khan, 8 Kagiso Rabada, 9 Ashok Sharma, 10 Prasidh Krishna, 11 Mohammed Siraj
- Impact bench: Shahrukh Khan, Manav Suthar, Jason Holder, Kulwant Kejroliya, Anuj Rawat
