IPL 2026: Gujarat will try to erase the stigma of second consecutive defeat, Delhi vs Gujarat, know who has the upper hand

New Delhi: If Delhi Capitals want to maintain their strength in the Indian Premier League (IPL), then their top-order batsmen led by KL Rahul will have to perform well against the faltering team of Gujarat Titans in the match to be held here on Wednesday. Delhi Capitals has performed well in bowling due to which it was successful in winning the last few matches. On his behalf, 22-year-old Sameer Rizvi has taken more responsibility in batting.

The young batsman has impressed with his patience and skill. If Rahul and other top-order batsmen get into form, Delhi Capitals will become an even stronger team. Rahul cannot be blamed for the way he has been out in his first two innings and he can play a big innings at any time. However, Nitish Rana has failed at number three and it seems that he is feeling more pressure at this number.

Sri Lankan opener Pathum Nissanka had found his rhythm in the last match here, which will give him the confidence needed to face Gujarat Titans pace duo of Kagiso Rabada and Mohammed Siraj in the powerplay. Rizvi, who has scored his third consecutive half-century in the IPL (one half-century was scored in his last match of the last season), is in aggressive form. He already had the ability to thrash the spinners, but now he is not sparing even the fast bowlers.

In the last match against Mumbai Indians, he adopted a restrained attitude in the beginning of the innings but later he batted aggressively and gave his team an easy victory. Among the bowlers for Delhi, Mukesh Kumar has performed brilliantly so far, while captain Akshar Patel has been effective in both the powerplay and middle overs. Lungi Ngidi has provided strength to Delhi’s bowling unit, which also includes T Natarajan and wrist spinner Kuldeep Yadav. In contrast, Gujarat Titans is a team that is faltering in both the departments.
Gujarat Titans seem to be overly dependent on their top order batsmen and their middle order is not performing. Gujarat Titans should have achieved the target of 205 runs in their last match against Rajasthan Royals, but the middle-order batsmen could not take advantage of the good start from opener Sai Sudarshan. Middle-order batsmen like Glenn Phillips, Washington Sundar and Rahul Tewatia need to perform better under pressure.

Captain Shubman Gill could not play the last match due to a muscle strain, but acting captain Rashid Khan said that he will be fully fit for the important match against Delhi Capitals. Gujarat Titans team has lost its first two matches and the performance of its bowlers was also not good. Both Siraj and Rabada have proved to be a bit expensive, while Prasidh Krishna has not been consistent in his performances.

The positive thing for Gujarat Titans is that Rashid has found his rhythm early in the contest. Gujarat’s most impressive bowler has been 23-year-old fast bowler Ashok Sharma. Usually a lot of runs are scored on the Kotla pitch, but this did not happen in the afternoon match last week and the Mumbai Indians team could score only 162 runs. It remains to be seen how the pitch here behaves in the evening session matches in April.

The teams are as follows:

Delhi Capitals: Axar Patel (captain), Abhishek Porel, Karun Nair, KL Rahul, Nitish Rana, Sameer Rizvi, Tristan Stubbs, Ashutosh Sharma, Madhav Tiwary, Dushmantha Chameera, Kuldeep Yadav, Mukesh Kumar, Vipraj Nigam, Mitchell Starc, Tripurana Vijay, David Miller, Ben Duckett, Auqib Nabi Dar, Pathum Nissanka, Lungi. Ngidi, Prithvi Shaw, Kyle Jamieson, T Natarajan, Ajay Jadav Mandal, Sahil Parakh.

Gujarat Titans: Shubman Gill (captain), Anuj Rawat, Jos Buttler, Kumar Kushagra, Shahrukh Khan, Glenn Phillips, Rashid Khan, Manav Suthar, Nishant Sindhu, Rahul Tewatia, Washington Sundar, Gurnoor Brar, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Kagiso Rabada, Ravishrinivasan Sai Kishore, Jayant Yadav, Ishant Sharma, Ashok Sharma, Jason Holder, Tom Banton, Prithvi Raj. Yera, Luke Wood, Sai Sudarshan, Arshad Khan.

The match will start at 7:30 pm Indian time.