Defending champions Gujarat Titans became the first team to reach the playoffs in the IPL 2023 season and will face the tough test of squaring up against the mighty Chennai Super Kings in their own backyard, the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai on Tuesday.
The Hardik Pandya-led team, which played its first-ever tournament in the money-rich T20 franchise tournament last year, accomplished a special feat as they won the tournament on their very first attempt.
And they followed it up with yet another strong season as they notched up 20 points from 14 games to qualify for the playoff from atop the league table.
Legendary South African seamer Shaun Pollock termed the Ahmedabad-based side the ‘Manchester City of the IPL’, drawing parallels to the Premier League champions, who claimed their third domestic league title in three years under the stewardship of manager-par-excellence, Pep Guardiola.
“We’ll probably have to call them the Manchester City of the IPL at the moment," the legendary pacer said ahead of the blockbuster playoff clash.
“Look at the net run-rate, plus 0.8. Not only have they been winning, but they’ve been winning in style," he added.
However, Pollock warned the Ashish Nehra-coached side about the difficulties of coming to grips with the reality of the upcoming phase of the tournament, which could make or break the defence of their title.
Pollock pointed out that, GT could find it difficult to adjust to the pressure of the situation after having qualified well ahead of their final couple of games.
“They must go in with a lot of confidence. I mean it’s always a difficult part of the tournament now. You think over the last ten days they’ve already qualified for the first playoff game and they haven’t really had to deal with pressure. Then all of a sudden you go back and you go do or die, not in the first game, but obviously in the second. So at some stage, they have to face the reality that they could get knocked out," the 49-year-old warned.
However, Pollock also added that the champions have looked really good throughout the tournament and could emulate CSK’s feat from 2011 and defend their title successfully.
“And that’s the only different environment or curveball that gets thrown into the equation, but for the rest of it they’ve been calm throughout the tournament and they’ve looked really good," the South African bowling stalwart concluded.
Comments
0 comment