The first qualifier match of 2022 Tata Indian Premier League is scheduled to take place between Gujarat Titans and Rajasthan Royals on 24th May at Eden Gardens in Kolkata. Hardik Pandya lead Gujarat stood at top in IPL 2022 points table to seal the spot with 10 wins (20 points) while Rajasthan secured 18 points from 9 games to get into first qualifier. Whoever wins this encounter, will go the final directly while loser to play 2nd qualifier on 27 May against the winner of eliminator.
Match Preview
Rajasthan Royals and Gujarat Titans met once during the league stage of tournament and Titans defeated Royals by 37 runs margin. Team RR is highly depending on their openers Jos Butler and Devdutt Padikkal to provide good start meanwhile middle order has got some serious powers hitters like skipper Sanju Samson, Shimron Hetmyer and Riyan Parag.
Rajasthan is the only team in playoffs who has won IPL title and it has come in inaugural edition under Shane Warne’s captaincy. Australian great spinner just passed away few weeks ago and Royals’ team would be looking to give him tribute by winning the IPL. Former England captain Kevin Pietersen also believes the same and he’s mentioned this in his latest column.
“I’m really hoping Rajasthan can go all the way in the memory of Shane Warne. It feels like there should be a special energy in that franchise at the moment,” wrote Kevin Pietersen in a column to Betway insider.
Spin bowlers Ravichandran Ahswin and Yuzvendra Chahal will be key to success for RR on this Kolkata’s surface. The pitch seems to behave slower a bit and spinners would be playing huge role in decider of which team qualify for IPL final. Gujarat Titans have got Rashid Khan who can turn around the things quickly for them in the game.
Shubhan Gill, David Miller, Rahul Tweatia and Wriddhiman Saha are the key and inform batters in Gujarat team. Saha is going through an injury and it is anticipated that he would return to playing XI before start of the match.
Squads
Gujarat Titans: Hardik Pandya (captain), Matthew Wade (wk), Rashid Khan (vc), Shubman Gill, Vijay Shankar, Rahul Tewatia, David Miller, Mohammed Shami, Varun Aaron, Lockie Ferguson, Jayant Yadav, Dominic Drakes, Wriddhiman Saha (wk), Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), Gurkeerat Singh Mann, Pradeep Sangwan, Alzarri Joseph, Noor Ahmad, R Sai Kishore, Darshan Nalkande, Abhinav Manohar, Sai Sudarshan, Yash Dayal.
Rajasthan Royals: Sanju Samson (captain / wicketkeeper), Jos Buttler, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shimron Hetmyer, Ravichandran Ashwin, Yuzvendra Chahal, Prasidh Krishna, Riyan Parag, Devdutt Padikkal, Navdeep Saini, Karun Nair, Rassie van der Dussen, James Neesham, Anunay Singh, Daryl Mitchell, Dhruv Jurel, Shubham Garhwal, Kuldip Yadav, Kuldeep Sen, Obed McCoy, Tejas Baroka, KC Cariappa.
Prediction
Gujarat Titans looks favorite to win the first qualifier of 2022 Tata IPL. As per our predictions, they have 65% winning chances.
Photo: IPL20.com