IPL 2024: GT eye top-notch bowling show against uplifted RCB

GT’s Rashid Khan trains ahead of their match against RCB in Ahmedabad on Saturday. Pic/PTI

Another run feast is on the cards when the Gujarat Titans take on the cock-a-hoop Royal Challengers Bengaluru on a red soil square at the Narendra Modi Stadium on Sunday afternoon.

"We are getting a red soil wicket, I think," Gujarat's spin bowling coach Ashish Kapoor said in reply to a mid-day question about the track at the pre-match interaction on Saturday.

"This year we wanted to play on black soil," Kapoor revealed. He added that their match against Punjab was played on a red soil wicket. "We scored 199 but lost that match," he said.

Kapoor sidestepped a question when asked if, as hosts, they get to decide which pitch to use. He diverted that question to the media manager, who pointed out that the question should be directed to the BCCI.

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The Bengaluru team is coming into this match after a thumping win over the high-riding Sunrisers Hyderabad. They must be nursing a thin chance of qualifying for the play-offs.

When mid-day asked their in-form batsman Rajat Patidar if they talked about the return by the Mumbai Indians after earlier losses, "We discussed that [Mumbai rallying], but we don't compare," Patidar concurred.

He said that the team was focusing on one match at a time. "We believe that we can turn around the points table," he reiterated.

The worry for Gujarat is their bowling. In the absence of injured Mohammed Shami, Umesh Yadav and Mohit Sharma have not been so effective.

"Shami is a world-class performer, anybody will miss him, those four overs will make a difference," Kapoor agreed, but added that there was no point in cribbing about his absence through injury.

"I think our fast bowlers have done well, conceding much fewer runs than the bowlers in the tournament," he said, referring to 200-plus scores in the last nine of the ten IPL innings this season.

The Gujarat spinners, Rashid Khan and Noor Ahmed, are also not among the wickets. Rashid Khan has taken only eight wickets in nine innings this year.

Kapoor, however, defended his Afghan spin wizard, saying that Rashid puts pressure on batsmen, and the other bowlers get wickets because of that.

Currently positioned seventh on the table with eight points from nine matches, the Titans must be keen to climb a step up with a win over RCB.