IPL: Gujarat Titans look to go for Shubman Gill

Chennai, May 22

Mahendra Singh Dhoni will have a lot of brainstorming to do to stop a rampaging Shubman Gill as Chennai Super Kings meet holders Gujarat Titans in the Qualifier 1 of the IPL here tomorrow.

2 Jadeja has a particularly good match-up against Hardik, having dismissed him twice in four innings

32 The 32 sixes Tewatia has hit in the death overs is the joint-most — alongside Jadeja — by an Indian since IPL 2020

Gill, who played the role of an enforcer with a century against Royal Challengers Bangalore on Sunday, has overshadowed Virat Kohli and will certainly force one of the India’s greatest captains to go back to drawing board and make plans for him.

Gujarat haven’t played at the tricky Chepauk pitch this season and this adds a frill of excitement to the game. The pitches here have been cloaked in suspense, with some being slow in nature while others have been good to bat on.

For Gujarat, tackling the slowness of the Chepauk track will be a challenge and how well they negotiate Deepak Chahar’s Powerplay overs and Matheesha Pathirana’s slingers at the back-end will determine the outcome of the match.

And this is where Hardik Pandya and head coach Ashish Nehra will find Sri Lankan skipper Dasun Shanaka’s inputs handy as he has handled both Pathirana and spinner Maheesh Theekshana for the national team.

While Shanaka might be used more as an all-rounder, Gujarat, depending on the toss can also try out left-arm spinner R Sai Kishore, who knows these conditions well.

There is a chance that Irishman Joshua Little will be back in the playing XI in place of Shanaka and Sai Kishore comes in place of Yash Dayal, who is yet to get back his confidence after being hit for five sixes by his statemate Rinku Singh.

For Chennai, a good start by openers Devon Conway and Ruturaj Gaikwad will be important. — PTI

RCB fans troll Gill’s sister after loss

New Delhi: Shubman Gill’s sister Shahneel became the latest target of the vitriolic trolling after Gujarat Titans dumped out Royal Challengers Bangalore with a thumping six-wicket in Bengaluru on Sunday.

Shahneel had put up pictures of her watching the match with her friends on social media which angered some of the supporters of RCB and targeted the sister-brother duo.

The trolling prompted a tweet from Delhi Commission for Women chief Swati Maliwal today, in which she has slammed the trollers. She said that stern action will be taken against those trolling the batsman’s sister.

“Extremely shameful to see trollers abusing #ShubhmanGill’s sister just because the team they follow lost a match. Previously we had initiated action against people abusing #ViratKohli’s daughter. DCW will take action against all those who have abused Gill’s sister as well. This shall not be tolerated!” she said in a tweet.