The new entrants of Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022, Hardik Pandya-led Gujarat Titans (GT) have announced Rashid Khan as their vice-captain ahead of their IPL opener against another debutant Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) on Monday (March 28).
This is not the first time for Rashid in the leadership role as he has earlier spearheaded Afghanistan in a few matches at the international level. The star spinner was roped in by Gujarat Titans for a humungous Rs 15 crore after being released by his former franchise Sunrisers Hyderabad.
Titans took to their official Instagram handle to make this announcement and posted an adorable picture of Hardik and Rashid having a laugh together. “In yet another #SeasonOfFirsts, Rashid bhai becomes our vice-captain,” the caption of the post read.
Rashid and Hardik will look to make a letal pair for their franchise in order to launch their bid for the coveted IPL title being the new entrant.
Armed with hard-hitting all-rounders, GT and LSG would aim to start their IPL campaign on a winning note when they square off on Monday. Gujarat could most likely open with young Shubman Gill and Afghanistan batter Rahmanullah Gurbaz, who is also a wicket-keeper.
Gujarat could most likely open with young Shubman Gill and Afghanistan batter Rahmanullah Gurbaz, who is also a wicket-keeper.
The duo can take any opposition attack to task, but would need to be wary of the bounce at the Wankhede stadium.
Gujarat would heavily bank on the performance of their skipper Hardik Pandya, who has loads of experience playing at the Wankhede with Mumbai Indians.
Known for his six-hitting prowess, Hardik this season will have to take more responsibility with the bat and also bat higher up the order. And ditto for Rahul Tewatia, who would need to shed his one match IPL wonder tag. Tewatia has already said that he would need to take more responsibility with the willow.
Another key all-rounder for them is Vijay Shankar and his four overs with his medium pace could also make the difference. The three on their day can single-handedly win the game and they would hope that come Monday, they can fire in unison.
Someone like Karnataka’s Abhinav Manohar would need to shoulder responsibility in the middle order along with David Miller.
Key pacer Mohammed Shami will lead the bowling attack and would be looking for a successful run to make a strong case for selection in the India squad for the World Cup in Australia later this year.
Another important cog in their wheel is leggie Rashid Khan, who could relish bowling on the Wankhede track.
Gujarat Titans' full squad:
Abhinav Manohar, David Miller, Gurkeerat Singh, Sai Sudarshan, Shubman Gill, Hardik Pandya (Captain), Rahul Tewatia, Vijay Shankar, Matthew Wade, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Wriddhiman Saha, Alzarri Joseph, Darshan Nalkande, Dominic Drakes, Jayant Yadav, Lockie Ferguson, Mohammed Shami, Noor Ahmad, Pradeep Sangwan, Rashid Khan, Ravisrinivasan Sai, Varun Aaron, Yash Dayal.
Lucknow Super Giants' full squad:
KL Rahul (Captain), Manan Vohra, Evin Lewis, Manish Pandey, Quinton De Kock, Ravi Bishnoi, Dushmantha Chameera, Shahbaz Nadeem, Mohsin Khan, Mayank Yadav, Ankit Rajpoot, Avesh Khan, Andrew Tye, Marcus Stoinis, Kyle Mayers, Karan Sharma, Krishnappa Gowtham, Ayush Badoni, Deepak Hooda, Krunal Pandya. Jason Holder.