Gujarat Titans Predicted Playing XI vs Mumbai Indians for Qualifier 2 of IPL 2023

The Gujarat Titans (GT) will get their second crack at the 2023 Indian Premier League (IPL) final when they take on the Mumbai Indians (MI) in Qualifier 2 on Friday, May 26, in Ahmedabad.

The defending champions finished at the top of the standings at the end of the league phase for the second season running, but fell in Qualifier 1 to the Chennai Super Kings (CSK). They now find themselves in a must-win situation against a red-hot MI side that brushed aside the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) in the Eliminator.

Hardik Pandya and Co. made a strange change for the first qualifier, with Darshan Nalkande making his first appearance of the season in the crunch game. The move didn't pay off, with the youngster proving expensive, and the Titans might revert to a more stable combination for this knockout clash.

Here is GT's predicted playing XI for Qualifier 2 of IPL 2023 against MI.

Note: Playing XIs are bound to vary majorly in IPL 2023, with the introduction of the impact player rule as well as captains having the chance to name their side after the result of the toss is known.

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GT have placed faith in Dasun Shanaka in their last few IPL 2023 matches, but the experienced Sri Lankan hasn't delivered. He has been used as a specialist batter, but he has clear issues against spin and can't be a reliable option in the top five.

Gujarat might thus be tempted to drop Shanaka and beef up their bowling attack by bringing back either Alzarri Joseph or Josh Little. The Irishman is the favorite, with him earning Hardik's trust in the league stage before leaving for international duty.

Little could replace Nalkande in the side, with his left-arm angle and ability to bowl at all stages of the innings bound to serve the Titans well against MI.

Instead of Shanaka, meanwhile, GT could bring in either B Sai Sudharsan or Abhinav Manohar. The latter's six-hitting pedigree and the fact that he was the Player of the Match during one of the team's two league meetings against Mumbai could tilt the scales in his favor.

Either of the domestic duo could come in as an impact player. Vijay Shankar is another impact player candidate apart from the uncapped duo, with Mohit Sharma potentially being the bowler to be subbed out.

The rest of GT's lineup is bound to wear a similar look, although they've shown a rather uncharacteristic tendency to veer away from what has worked for them in the recent past.

GT's predicted playing XI for Qualifier 2 of IPL 2023: Shubman Gill, Wriddhiman Saha (wk), Hardik Pandya (c), Vijay Shankar, David Miller, Rahul Tewatia, Rashid Khan, Josh Little, Mohammad Shami, Noor Ahmad, Mohit Sharma.

Impact player candidates: Shivam Mavi, B Sai Sudharsan, R Sai Kishore, Darshan Nalkande, Abhinav Manohar.