"Who had thought Rahul Tripathi would come to open instead of Ruturaj Gaikwad" - Aakash Chopra on questions for GT ahead of IPL 2025 clash vs PBKS

Former India player Aakash Chopra has noted that he would eagerly watch Gujarat Titans' (GT) choice of openers in their IPL 2025 clash against the Punjab Kings (PBKS). He pointed out that the Titans could spring a surprise, just like the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) did in their clash against the Mumbai Indians (MI) on March 23.

GT will host PBKS in the two sides' IPL 2025 opener in Ahmedabad on Tuesday, March 25. The home team will potentially have to choose between Jos Buttler and Sai Sudharsan as Shubman Gill's opening partner.

In a video shared on his YouTube channel 'Aakash Chopra,' the cricketer-turned-commentator opined that one of the questions in front of the Gujarat Titans at the start of their IPL 2025 campaign would be the selection of their openers.

"There will be three things worth watching from Gujarat's perspective. They have an excellent top three - Shubman Gill, Jos Buttler and Sai Sudharsan. I think the best of all three will come as an opener. Whoever among the three bats at No. 3, his batting might be slightly inferior, although they have used Sai Sudharsan a lot at No. 3," Chopra said (2:15).

"So will they go in that direction and not look for a left-right opening combination or will they look for that? There are surprises at times. Who had thought Rahul Tripathi would come to open instead of Ruturaj Gaikwad, but that happened. So I will very eagerly see who would open here," he added.

Aakash Chopra reckoned that the recipe for Gujarat Titans' success in IPL 2025 would be one among their top three batting till around the 15th over. He pointed out that Shubman Gill and company, unlike most other teams, don't run after 250-plus scores.

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"It remains to be seen who they play between Glenn Phillips and Sherfane Rutherford" - Aakash Chopra on GT's middle-order dilemma ahead of IPL 2025 clash vs PBKS

Glenn Phillips was one of the overseas players acquired by the Gujarat Titans in the IPL 2025 auction. [P/C: iplt20.com]

In the same video, Aakash Chopra noted that the Gujarat Titans might have to choose between Glenn Phillips and Sherfane Rutherford for a middle-order batting position in their IPL 2025 clash against the Punjab Kings.

"The second thing that would be worth watching is that the middle order used to be a slight problem earlier, and that problem could probably still be there. It remains to be seen who they play between Glenn Phillips and Sherfane Rutherford. Glenn Phillips will be seen flying if they play him and Sherfane Rutherford has come with incredible T20 form," he said (3:30).

The former India opener added that the IPL 2022 champions would also potentially have to choose between Washington Sundar and Sai Kishore as Rashid Khan's spin-bowling partner, considering Noor Ahmad is no longer part of their squad.

"They used to have the pair of Rashid and Noor. Now Rashid is there but Noor isn't. Noor is part of the Chennai team now. So will Washington Sundar or Sai Kishore bowl from the other end now? Which spinner will they go towards? I am thinking Washi Sundar, but maybe yes, maybe not, because Sai Kishore is highly rated," Chopra observed.

The Gujarat Titans used the Right To Match card to reacquire Sai Kishore for ₹2 crore at the IPL 2025 auction. They spent ₹3.20 crore to buy Washington Sundar at the mega auction last November.