Gujarat Titans will square-off against Kolkata Knight Riders in match 25 of the 2026 Indian Premier League at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on Friday.
With two wins and the same number of losses from four games, GT are placed sixth on the IPL points table. The Shubman Gill-led side was off to a poor start in the season as they tasted defeats against Punjab Kings and Rajasthan Royals. But the 2022 champions bounced back from the losses to register victories over Delhi Capitals and Lucknow Super Giants in the following two games.
The team is increasingly looking like a well-settled unit in every department. Gill and wicketkeeper-batter Jos Buttler have each notched up two half-centuries, while opener Sai Sudharsan and all-rounder Washington Sundar have contributed a fifty apiece. Pacer Prasidh Krishna is spearheading the bowling and with 10 wickets, he is the season's joint-highest wicket taker. Krishna is getting good support from the likes of Rashid Khan, Kagiso Rabada and emerging fast bowler Ashok Kumar.If there's one area the team needs to improve in the upcoming matches, it's their middle-order batting.
Meanwhile, KKR are in all sorts of troubles this season. With four defeats the three-time champions are last on the points tally. The only point they have earned this season was on the back of a washed-out game against Punjab Kings in Kolkata. The team has been comprehensively beaten by Mumbai Indians, Sunrisers Hyderabad, Lucknow Super Giants and Chennai Super Kings.
The batters have misfired and the bowling has been flat right from the onset of the season. Such is the condition of the team that five matches into the season the team is yet to figure out its best openers, the batters who could play in the middle and the best set of bowlers!
With several players struggling for form, the team could consider resting some regular starters and bringing in bench players for the upcoming matches. Some good news arrived for the team from Sri Lanka as fast bowler Matheesha Pathirana was cleared by Sri Lanka Cricket to play in the league. However it could take some more time before the he is included in the lineup.
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Weather, Pitch
The weather forecast by the India Meteorological Department says that Ahmedabad will have partly sky. The temperature will range from a maximum of 40 °C. to a minimum of 26 °C. The chances of rain affecting the match are miniscule.
The only IPL game played here this season so far was the match between GT and Rajasthan Royals. It was a high-scoring fixture with both sides scoring over 200 runs. However that match was played almost two weeks ago. The pitch and the conditions are bound to change in this span. But expect another batting-friendly pitch for this encounter.
Head to Head
Matches Played: 5
- Gujarat Titans wins: 3
- Kolkata Knight Riders wins: 1
Players to Watch
- Prasidh Krishna (Gujarat Titans): The lanky pacer bowled an impressive spell of 4/28 against Lucknow Super Giants. Krishna has picked at least one wicket in each of the four matches. Against a shaky batting lineup of KKR, expect him to continue his wicket-taking form.
- Angkrish Raghuvanshi (Kolkata Knight Riders): Amid all the doom and gloom in the KKR camp, young Angkrish Raghuvanshi has been the sole bright spot. The batter started the season with back-to-back half-centuries and is the team's leading run-getter this season. With other batters faltering, expect him to shoulder the responsibility of playing big knocks.
Possible Playing XI
- Gujarat Titans: Shubman Gill (capt), B Sai Sudharsan, Jos Buttler (wk), Washington Sundar, Glenn Phillips, Rahul Tewatia, M Shahrukh Khan, Rashid Khan, Kagiso Rabada, Ashok Sharma, Prasidh Krishna
- Kolkata Knight Riders: Finn Allen, Sunil Narine, Ajinkya Rahane (capt), Angkrish Raghuvanshi,Cameron Green, Rinku Singh,Ramandeep Singh, Rovman Powell, Anukul Roy, Vaibhav Arora, Varun Chakravarthy
LIVE Telecast
The match will be broadcasted live on the Star Sports television channels.
LIVE Stream
GT vs KKR can also be streamed LIVE on the JioHotstar app and website.
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