Gujarat Titans and Lucknow Super Giants will make their debut in the Indian Premier League when they take on each other on March 28, in Match 4 of the 2022 edition at Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. While the Titans will be led by Hardik Pandya, the Super Giants will have the skipper in KL Rahul.

The Indian Premier League will welcome two new franchises Gujarat Titans and Lucknow Super Giants on Monday (March 28). They will go up against each other at the iconic Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai in Match 4 of the 15th edition of the tournament.

The Super Giants, led by KL Rahul, will miss some of their key overseas recruits, including the likes of Marcus Stoinis, Jason Holder, and Quinton de Kock. In their absence, Dushmantha Chameera, Evin Lewis, and Andrew Tye are likely to make debuts for them. Their strong Indian core, comprising Manish Pandey, Deepak Hooda, Krunal Pandya and Ravi Bishnoi hold the key.

The Titans, on the other hand, will have Rahul’s partner in crime Hardik Pandya as their captain. They will have almost every squad member available, and that makes them favourites on paper in this fixture. Their potent bowling attack, featuring Rashid Khan, Lockie Ferguson, and Mohammed Shami, will be on focus.

Both sides will be eager to begin the tournament on a positive note. While the Super Giants are placed in Group A, alongside Mumbai Indians, Kolkata Knight Riders, Rajasthan Royals, and Delhi Capitals, the Titans are pooled into Group B, with Chennai Super Kings, Sunrisers Hyderabad, Royal Challengers Bangalore, and Punjab Kings.

Form Guide

As they are making debuts in the tournaments, it is still unknown how they would fetch in IPL 2022.

Head to Head

Similarly, as this is their first IPL fixture, there are no previous records to put up.

Predicted XIs

Gujarat Titans: Shubman Gill, Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), Abhinav Sadarangani, Gurkeerat Singh Mann, Hardik Pandya (c), Vijay Shankar, Rahul Tewatia, Rashid Khan, Lockie Ferguson, Mohammed Shami, Yash Dayal.

Lucknow Super Giants: KL Rahul (c and wk), Evin Lewis, Manan Vohra, Manish Pandey, Deepak Hooda, Krunal Pandya, Krishnappa Gowtham, Dushmantha Chameera, Avesh Khan, Ravi Bishnoi, Ankit Rajpoot.

Best betting tips

Gujarat Titans to beat Lucknow Super Giants @ 1.72

As discussed earlier, the Super Giants will miss some of their integral members of the squad against the Titans. They will be entirely dependent on Rahul to do something spectacular, and the over-reliance against one of the strongest squads of this season would not help them to snatch a positive result.

Considering Titans’ full-fledged squad, it should be a comfortable win for Gujarat to begin the tournament in style.

Lucknow Super Giants to score under 47.5 runs in Powerplay @ 1.85

The Wankhede pitch, that was used in the IPL 2022 opener between Kolkata Knight Riders and Chennai Super Kings was not an easy turf to bat on. Considering Titans’ fiery pace attack, the Super Giants may struggle to get going from the beginning of the innings. Also, there will be no Quinton de Kock to stage a counterattack.

Despite scoring the bulk of runs in the past four IPL editions, Rahul tends to take his time at the crease before start accelerating. Though Lewis has the pedigree of smashing big, it would still be a tough task to score more than eight runs an over in the Powerplay against Gujarat bowlers.

Shubman Gill to score more than 24.5 @1.83

Gill had been a consistent performer for KKR in the past couple of IPL seasons. He aggregated 440 runs in 2020 and followed it up with a tally of 478 runs in the 2021 season. Although his strike rate (123) in the tournament has been sub-par, it should not be a worry for the Titans as they have the swashbuckling Gurbaz as his opening partner.

Gill’s IPL numbers at Wankhede has not been great. In three outings, his scores’ read 7,9, and 11. However, given his recent improvement in batting technique, he is expected to set the stage on fire with his new franchise.

Match Prediction

Gujarat Titans should win this contest handsomely.

Match info 

Match – Gujarat Titans vs Lucknow Super Giants, Indian Premier League 2022 MATCH NO: 4, 

Date – 28/03/2022

Time – 7.30 PM IST

Venue – Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai.