It’s Kings after Knightmare, can Gujarat Titans make the most of it?

Defending champions Gujarat Titans smarting from Rinku Singhrsquos lastover blitzkrieg would like to forget that nightmarish night and get back to winning ways when they take on gritty Punjab Kings in an Indian Premier League match here on ThursdayGT had several heroes on that electrifying night including young Sai Sudarshan Vijay Shankar and the hattrick man from Afghanistan Rashid Khan who led the side in place of unwell Hardik PandyaRampaging RinkuWhen the match looked as good as over the Uttar Pradesh batter pulled the rabbit out of the hat for Kolkata Knight Riders smashing five maximums in the last over to stun the home teamThat lastball defeat will hurt GT for years to come but in the immediate they would like to forget it and get on with the next gameGT currently fourth on the table with four points from three games still have a great chance to top the chart but for that they will have to collectively come together against PBKS who are fast emerging as one of the most difficult sides to surmountAlso Read IPL 2023 Points Table Updated standings after Mumbai Indians clinch maiden winGoing by their current form PBKSrsquo eightwicket loss to Sunrisers Hyderabad could just be an aberration given the form of their captain Shikhar Dhawan and young leftarm bowler Arshdeep SinghDhawanrsquos innings in Hyderabad on April 9 was a testament to the stalwartsrsquo resilience and his ability to stay composed as wickets fell like ninepins at the other endHis 99 in a losing cause was far bigger and better than playing a winning hand in the match against Rajasthan Royals with an unbeaten 86 or a strokefilled 40 against KKRGT would be wary of Dhawanrsquos form and Hardik would know all too well how the veteran Delhi cricketer would be itching to once again prove himself This could well be a contest of oneupmanship between Dhawan and Shubman Gill with the former still wanting to prove himself and be in contention for a place in the India squad for the ODI World Cup at home later this yearThe way Dhawan and young opening partner Prabhsimran Singh have blasted off in powerplays gives an indication that they are unlikely to alter their strategy against GT who have bowlers of the calibre of Mohammed Shami Hardik and Rashid to name a fewLower down PBKS have the most expensive buy in IPL history allrounder Sam Curran besides Liam Livingstone and Jitesh Sharma while in the bowling department Arshdeep and Nathan Ellis have created quite a few problems for the rivalsGill Shankar in formGT though have their own firepower boasting of the likes of Gill toporder batter Sudarshan and Shankarmdashlate bloomer at 32mdash who struck an unbeaten 24ball 63 to guide the side to a 200plus total in their game against KKRHad it not been for Rinkursquos breathtaking lastover mayhem Vijay could well have been patting his back for his effort That was not to be and things turned upsidedown in the last over bowled by Yash Dayal GT would perhaps take a second look at their bowling combination and see how they can rotate their bowlers more efficientlyThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever