GT vs DC Predicted Playing XI: Will out-of-form Jake Fraser-McGurk face the axe for this South Africa batter?

An in-form Delhi Capitals (DC) are set to take on Shubman Gill's Gujarat Titans (GT) away from home on April 19. DC made up for the hiccup against Mumbai Indians (MI) with a thrilling super over win over Rajasthan Royals (RR) at home. GT suffered their first defeat away from home this season at the hands of Lucknow Super Giants (LSG). 

DC's major worry has been their rising star Jake Fraser-McGurk who has scored in double digits just once in six games. The young Australian batter is getting out early.  He will be replaced in the side if Faf du Plessis regains full fitness. Also, South Africa batter Donovan Ferreira is another overseas option DC have. The wicketkeeper-batter has a strike rate of 158.32 in the format and he is waiting in the wings to make his DC debut. 

Patel is yet to give left-arm pacer T Natarajan a chance. Mukesh Kumar has been expensive and Natarajan can be a good addition to the pace-bowling lineup led by Mitchell Starc.

DC Predicted Playing XII:

Jake Fraser-McGurk/Faf du Plessis, Abishek Porel, Karun Nair, KL Rahul (wk), Tristan Stubbs, Axar Patel (c), Ashutosh Sharma, Vipraj Nigam, Mitchell Starc, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohit Sharma, Mukesh Kumar/T Natarajan.

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GT's star overseas pacer Kagiso Rabada who left for home due to personal reasons is yet to rejoin the squad. GT are unlikely to make a change to the side despite the loss to LSG. The main concern is Rashid Khan's form but he is unlikely to be dropped. Meanwhile, they have replaced an injured Glenn Phillips with Dasun Shanaka in the squad. It will be interesting to see whether he will get a chance straightaway or warm the benches with other overseas players, Gerald Coetzee and Karim Janat.

GT Predicted Playing XII:

Sai Sudharsan, Shubman Gill(c), Jos Buttler(wk), Sherfane Rutherford, Washington Sundar, Shahrukh Khan, Rahul Tewatia, Arshad Khan, Rashid Khan, Ravisrinivasan Sai Kishore, Prasidh Krishna, Mohammed Siraj.

GT vs DC Weather and Pitch Report:

It is expected to be a high-scoring encounter in Ahmedabad. Both the teams have enough firepower in their side to clear the ropes with ease. The side that bowls well will have the last laugh. However, in the day game, players will have a tough time dealing with excessive heat. Players can experience cramps in the challenging conditions. The likes of Lukdeep Yadav and Rashid Khan may benefit from pitch conditions.

Squads:

Delhi Capitals Squad: Jake Fraser-McGurk, Abishek Porel, Karun Nair, KL Rahul(w), Tristan Stubbs, Axar Patel(c), Ashutosh Sharma, Vipraj Nigam, Mitchell Starc, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohit Sharma, Mukesh Kumar, Sameer Rizvi, Darshan Nalkande, Donovan Ferreira, Tripurana Vijay, Dushmantha Chameera, Faf du Plessis, T Natarajan, Ajay Jadav Mandal, Manvanth Kumar L, Madhav Tiwari

Gujarat Titans Squad: Sai Sudharsan, Shubman Gill(c), Jos Buttler(w), Washington Sundar, Sherfane Rutherford, Shahrukh Khan, Rahul Tewatia, Rashid Khan, Arshad Khan, Ravisrinivasan Sai Kishore, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Mahipal Lomror, Nishant Sindhu, Anuj Rawat, Jayant Yadav, Kulwant Khejroliya, Ishant Sharma, Dasun Shanaka, Karim Janat, Gerald Coetzee, Manav Suthar, Kumar Kushagra, Gurnoor Brar