IPL 2023: 3 Key Match-Ups to Watch-Out in GT VS RR Match No.23

IPL 2023: The finalists of IPL 2022- Gujarat Titans (GT) and Rajasthan Royals (RR) will lock horns for the first time in match number 23 of the IPL 2023. This highly anticipated clash will be played at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on Sunday, April 16. When it comes to the head-to-head record between the two teams, GT is miles ahead of RR. The Royals are yet to win one game against the Titans. Gujarat Titans have won all the games against Rajasthan Royals. Notably, all these matches took place in the last season.

The Hardik Pandya-led team has been on a roll having lost just one of their 4 games so far this season. Their only loss also came in the last ball of the match against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) when Rinku Singh played a blinder and snatched the game away from the jaws of defeat. GT fought back and claimed an important win against the Punjab Kings (PBKS). 

Rajasthan Royals are sitting on the top of the points table after winning three games. Their only loss came against the Punjab Kings in Guwahati. RR played their last game in Chennai and Sandeep Sharma’s last-over heroics with the ball prevailed against the Chennai Super Kings (CSK). Heading into this game, the management would be hoping that Trent Boult is available for the game. Rajasthan will eye revenge for last year’s final.

IPL 2023: Top Player Battles to Keep an Eye On in GT VS RR Game

3) Shubman Gill vs Trent Boult

If Trent Boult is fit and available to play then there is no shadow of a doubt that he will walk straight into the playing XI. He is crucial with the new ball and can deliver important breakthroughs with his swing bowling in the powerplay. The left-arm seamer will be in action with the new ball and he will be up against GT’s most consistent run-scorer Shubman Gill. The GT opener top-scored for his team with 67 runs off 49 deliveries in the last game and was the highest scorer for the team. In the past, Gill has been dismissed just once by Boult. Gill has a strike rate of below 100 against the Kiwi speedster.

2) David Miller vs Yuzvendra Chahal

Yuzvendra Chahal is a favorable match-up for the Royals against David Miller. The wily leg spinner has accounted for the left-handed batter’s wicket three times in the IPL history. Chahal is the leading wicket-taker in the tournament so far and has picked ten wickets in four games at an average of 12.1, an economy of 7.56, and a strike rate of 9.6. Historically, the left-handed batter attacks the right-arm leg spinners. Miller has developed his game well to counter spin bowling and he will be looking to do that against Chahal.

1) Jos Buttler vs Mohammed Shami

Jos Buttler has been the standout player for RR, scoring 204 runs in three games with an amazing strike rate of 170.00 and a staggering average of 51.0. He is fourth on the list of leading run-scorers in IPL 2023. Since the start of last season, no one has scored more runs in the IPL than the RR opener. He is batting on the next level. If GT can get rid of him early in his innings then they can quickly expose the middle-order of RR. On what is expected to be a good batting surface in Ahmedabad, Mohammed Shami‘s hard lengths and seam movement off the surface can trouble Buttler in the powerplay overs. Buttler has scored 64 runs in 45 balls and has been dismissed 1 time while batting against Shami.