Gujarat Titans captain Shubman Gill won the toss and elected to bowl first against Delhi Capitals in match 35 of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025, being played at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad. With temperatures soaring and a visibly dry pitch on offer, the decision to bowl seemed driven by conditions likely to aid the bowlers early on.
Gill noted the heat and the potential for the wicket to crack as the game progresses. “The wicket looks very good. If you don’t keep much grass, it would crack up. Things have been going well. It takes a couple of weeks for the team to gel in. We are going with the same team,” said the GT skipper. He also hinted at the return of Kagiso Rabada in about 10 days, depending on his availability.
On the other hand, DC captain Axar Patel admitted he too wanted to bowl first. “I was confused as it was that hot. I was a little skeptical due to the weather. The bowlers might get tired under the sun. We will look to score well and look to defend,” he explained. Axar confirmed that Jake Fraser-McGurk is not part of the playing XI.
Playing XIs:
Delhi Capitals: Abishek Porel, Karun Nair, KL Rahul (wk), Tristan Stubbs, Axar Patel (c), Ashutosh Sharma, Vipraj Nigam, Mitchell Starc, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohit Sharma, Mukesh Kumar
Gujarat Titans: Sai Sudharsan, Shubman Gill (c), Jos Buttler (wk), Shahrukh Khan, Rahul Tewatia, Rashid Khan, Arshad Khan, Ravisrinivasan Sai Kishore, Prasidh Krishna, Mohammed Siraj, Ishant Sharma
Impact Substitutes:
Delhi Capitals: Jake Fraser-McGurk, Darshan Nalkande, Sameer Rizvi, Donovan Ferreira, Dushmantha Chameera
Gujarat Titans: Sherfane Rutherford, Mahipal Lomror, Anuj Rawat, Washington Sundar, Karim Janat
Both teams appear confident in their combinations, but GT will look to capitalise on the early bowling opportunity while DC aim to set a formidable target under the sun.
