Gujarat Titans vs Mumbai Indians Predictions: A win can potentially boost the top four hopes of the teams in contention

Playing in their seventh game of the season Gujarat Titans will welcome Mumbai Indians in the 35th game of the season at Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad on 25th April. A win can potentially boost the top four hopes of the teams in contention. Who will win this game?

The recent victory of the Titans against the Lucknow Super Giants, where they successfully defended a modest total of 135, made Hardik Pandya proud of his team's performance. The Titans will be banking on Wriddhiman Saha and Shubhman Gill to give them a strong start in the upcoming match. Saha has an impressive strike rate during powerplay overs but tends to slow down after field restrictions are lifted. Although Pandya played a crucial role in securing a respectable total in the previous game, the form of the lower middle-order batsmen, such as David Miller, Abhinav Manohar, and Rahul Tewatia, is a concern for the team. The availability of Sai Sudharsan for the next match is unknown.

In terms of bowling, Rashid Khan has been outstanding and leads the Titans' wicket-takers with 12 wickets. Jayant Yadav and Noor Ahmed also bowled well in the previous match and are likely to feature in upcoming matches. Mohammad Shami will lead the pace attack, and Mohit Sharma, a veteran seamer, has also been effective with four wickets in three matches and an impressive economy rate of 4.66 runs per over.

The conditions in Ahmedabad have favoured the fast bowlers, so the Titans' playing eleven is expected to be different from the previous match in Lucknow.

Wriddhiman Saha (wk), Shubman Gill, Hardik Pandya (c), Vijay Shankar, Abhinav Manohar, David Miller, Rahul Tewatia, Rashid Khan, Mohammed Shami, Noor Ahmad, Mohit Sharma

The Mumbai Indians suffered a loss on Saturday as their three-match winning streak came to an end against the Punjab Kings in a high-scoring encounter. Despite excellent performances from Surya Kumar Yadav, Cameron Green, and Rohit Sharma, the Indians fell short by 13 runs in their chase of a mammoth total of 214, conceding two vital points to the Kings, who moved ahead of them on the points table.

Although fans will be relieved to see Surya Kumar Yadav back in form, other batsmen like Tim David and Nehal Wadhera have been inconsistent this season. With the pitch at Ahmedabad known to favour batting, the Mumbai Indians' batsmen will need to bring their A-game against the quality bowling unit of the Titans. The team will be happy to have Jofra Archer back in action after he picked up a wicket in his comeback match against the Kings, although he was expensive.

The Mumbai Indians' seamers, including Arjun Tendulkar, Jason Behrendorff, Cameron Green, and Archer, were expensive in the previous match, conceding more than 10 runs per over. To contain the Titans to a lower total in the upcoming game, they must improve their line and length. Piyush Chawla, the veteran spinner, has been the most successful bowler for the Indians this season, taking 9 wickets, while Hrithik Shokeen has provided decent support. Despite this, the Mumbai Indians' bowling attack is not particularly strong, and Chawla may be under pressure from batsmen like Pandya and Miller. The team's batting is strong, and the pitch in Ahmedabad is likely to suit them, but they will need to bowl significantly better than they have so far if they hope to win.

Rohit Sharma (c), Ishan Kishan (wk), Tilak Varma, Suryakumar Yadav, Tim David, Cameron Green, Nehal Wadhera, Arjun Tendulkar, Piyush Chawla, Jason Behrendorff, Hrithik Shokeen

The Narendra Modi Stadium pitch is well-balanced, initially favouring the pacers, but as the game progresses, the spinners are likely to come into play. Although the average first-inning score in all the IPL matches played at this venue is around 165, this season's three matches have witnessed an average score of over 180. Therefore, any score above 175 will be considered a good one. The pitch has some green patches that will assist seamers in generating movement, and the extra bounce will favour players like SKY and Gill, but the fast bowlers will also have good chances.