The member of the visiting team has a fair chance of enjoying home comfort. That can well be said about Hardik Pandya, the present Mumbai Indians captain who will be leading his side against his former team Gujarat Titans at the Motera in Ahmedabad on Sunday.
From the IPL perspective, it’s some sort of an advantage for Pandya as he has fair knowledge of the core of the Titans squad as well as the conditions at the Motera, having been the captain of the Gujarat franchise since its debut in 2022. That way, it’s certainy an advantage for Team MI.
Having said that, equally important is Pandya’s individual performance in this IPL, which his first big-ticket tournament since missing a large chunk of India’s ODI World Cup campaign last year with an ankle injury. Alongside how well he does with the bat and his seam bowling and as a fielder, it will be a big test of his captaincy too as he fills in the big boots of Rohit Sharma, who led MI to as many as five IPL titles.
Being a professional, Pandya is expected to shut all the outside noise suggesting not all’s well within the MI camp since the change of captaincy before the season began. After all, Pandya too has played several matches both in the IPL and for Team India under Rohit’s leadership and thus, in pressure situations, he will most likely be seeking the former MI skipper’s advice.
Pandya and Rohit gelling well should make the going much smoother for the five-time champions, who seem to be taking one game at a time. “The (title) challenge will be understood based on current form, depending on which team plays well.
“We can’t say which team will be our biggest challenge before our campaign starts. It’s only during the tournament that we’ll learn which team is more competitive for us. This is something we’ll learn going forward,” young Tilak Varma, one of MI’s most consistent batsman, said on Saturday.
Another player whose performance will be scrutinised is Ishan Kishan, who will have a point to prove after losing his BCCI central contract for defying the Board’s diktat on domestic cricket.
On the Titans’ front, newly-appointed captain Shubman Gill has been tasked to ensure that the team maintains the consistency it showed in its first two seasons.
To prove he could be one of the future leaders of Team India, this is the best stage for the in-form Gill, who has been striving to take his game to the next level.
The return of ace Afghanistan leg-spinner Rashid Khan from a back surgery is also a boost for the 2022 champions.