IPL 2025, GT vs MI Highlights: Gujarat Titans beat Mumbai Indians by 36 runs in Ahmedabad

It was a chase which has never started from MI's perspective. When Tilak and Surya were batting it did seem like a possible total to get. However, after the 10th over mark once the ball had got softer and there was no dew wickets started to tumble after Prasidh Krishna's introduction. GT would be an extremely happy bunch, especially with their bowling plans everything has gone right for them.

Suryakumar Yadav has fallen here. It is Prasidh once again who got the wicket with a slower one. He tried to work one of his deliveries on the leg side and got the leading edge and Shubman Gill from long-on took a simple catch. As we update Hardik Pandya departs and it is Rabada who got the wicket.

The run rate has gone up quite quickly here. Mumbai needs a couple of big overs to gain some momentum back. As of now, Titans have been allowed to bowl nicely. They are taking the pace off and Mumbai is trying to take this game as deep as possible. Though it too can be done but one of these two has to take that extra risk right now and here.

Prasidh Krishna is in the middle of a nice spell here. He is bowling some nice cutters and the balls are sticking in the surface. The Mumbai batters who looked in brilliant touch seem to be struggling in the last 15 minutes or with the pace of the wicket. The ball is now softer it will be interesting to see how MI constructs this chase from here.

Sai Kishore has come in and picked up the wicket of Minz here. The batter tried to whack one through the cover region however, the ball took the outside edge and carried straight to the third-man region inside the ring to Ishant Sharma. Hardik Pandya has walked into the middle not long ago things looked in control but seems like in the last 10 minutes or so GT are making inroads.

Prasidh Krishna has come into the attack and has picked up the wicket of Tilak. He was losing a bit of momentum through the innings was Tilak and Prasidh eventually slipped in the slower one which the batter whacked but was caught on the boundary. Timely breakthrough for GT. Robin Minz walks in.

GT has to do something here. Both Tilak and Surya are not looking in any sort of trouble. The dew seems to be set in right now and the batting has got a lot more easier. The likes of Rashid Khan and Sai Kishore who are equity willy spinners are not getting much help out of this surface.

Suryakumar Yadav who has not been in good form in recent times has been let off from the Titans here. While he did play well he was also fed with a few freebies early in the piece. Meanwhile, Tilak from the other end to has nicely breezed into the innings. The Titans need a wicket here.

We have reached the timeout and this game is right in the balance. While Mohammed Siraj did pick up a couple of wickets the rest of the bowling is yet to make an impact. As per the batting Tilak Varma and Surya are batting superbly and the longer this partnership goes on more in control Mumbai will get in this game. 

The run rate has spiked a bit here. Though Mumbai does have a lot of batting to come. This is not one of those wickets which will get easier to bat on. One of these two in Tilak and Surya has to bat till the end and take Mumbai home. As per the Titan's perspective Ishant Sharma at this point in time as impact seems like a tactically sound move match-up wise but he has to pick up a few wickets.

Rashid Khan has been brought into the attack here for the Titans. This good bowling change from Gill as Rashid does have a good match-up against Tilak Varma. Also as Mumbai has lost a couple of wickets they must build a partnership for a bit instead of continuing to keep going. Given the nature of this surface, they would need a set batter in the end.

Mohammed Siraj has come in and picked up the wicket of Ryan Rickelton. It was another incoming delivery which the batter tried to play on the leg-side and got the inside edge onto the stumps. While it is still a long way to go but Titans have the upper hand as they have picked up two early wickets.

For a man who was hit for two successive fours, the comeback would have tasted sweet for Mohammad Siraj not just for the result, but in the manner it came. He had strayed twice in a row and Rohit Sharma duly put it away for leg-side boundaries. Then came the payback ball; it was the wobble-ball, the scrambled seam, that pitched on a length outside off and jagged back in sharply. Rohit’s foot was frozen, and he was stunned by the extent of the inward movement and was cut in half as the ball took out the bail. 

It was in 2021 on a tour of England that he picked up the new wobble toy from Bharat Arun, the bowling coach. Up the slope at Lord’s, it would scramble across, and then cut away repeatedly. R Ashwin raved at the “fast off breaks”. An equally excited Sachin Tendulkar was moved enough to tweet a video explainer about it. He showed how Siraj cuts his fingers at release for the in-cutter to yank the shape of the ball and send it tilting all scrambled towards the batsmen. The admiration in Tendulkar’s eyes told a story of its own. The shock in Rohit’s eyes on Saturday night, told another story.

- Sriram Veera

Ishant Sharma comes into the attack for the Titans and has been so good so far. He has been brought in as a substitute in this game which gives Gill six genuine options. However, a lot will depend on how Gill uses his spinners through the middle overs and how he uses his bowlers once the dew sets in.

Kagiso Rabada bowled the second over and Tilak Varma took a liking for his pace and scooped and played a few through the fine-leg region. This is where the Titans bowlers have to be a bit smarter with the pace they use. While they have picked it up quite early there is not much swing on offer and have pulled back their lengths it is also important to mix the pace up to curtail the batters.

We are done with the opening over and Mohammed Siraj has picked up the wicket of Rohit Sharma. The Mumbai opener did start with a couple of boundaries however, Siraj bowled one which came back into the batter and Rohit was certainly beaten by it. Tilak Varma has walked into the middle for Mumbai Indians.

We were targeting under 200 runs, so half the job done. The boys in the change room are pumped, so hopefully we should get there. It is different soil than the previous years, but it was a good pitch so happy to keep them under 200. (On recovering post the powerplay) Being allowed 3 more fielders outside helped, the powerplay is a different game in itself and then spin comes into the equation as well. (If there is dew) Yes there is, so hopefully it works in our favour.

Deepak Chahar is a fun bowler to track on the field as he has immense trust in himself and isn’t afraid to speak his mind. As CSK fans know, his chats with MS Dhoni have gone viral, and triggered stories from both parties later. And there he was at top of his run-up even as the third umpire was checking the run out of Tewatia. Rohit Sharma would run across to tell him that he should perhaps have a deep point instead of long-off, as the plan was to bowl well outside off. Chahar took a left-handed stance and showed how he thought the batsman Sherfane Rutherford will go for the aerial drive. Both Hardik Pandya and Rohit had their say, but Chahar was pretty clear. And so Rohit nodded and ran back. And what happened next ball? It was the well-outside off full delivery and Rutherford, who has issues playing the square-drive off such deliveries, did exactly as predicted by Chahar. Out came the aerial off drive which was gulped down at long-off. And boy, was Chahar thrilled? He immediately turned to Rohit and pointed his finger. Rohit laughed and told him something, and a smiling Chahar hugged him.

- Sriram Veera

It's been a frustrating start to the season for Rahul Tewatia at Gujarat Titans. Having just come into the middle at the start of the 19th over but he was not on striker. Sherfane Rutherford hit a ball to Hardik Pandy at mid off and Tewatia took off but when was turned back rightly so, and his return to the crease was sloppy. Instead of sliding the bat across, he plonked in front of the crease and the direct hit ended his innings – the rare 0 off 0 balls. Hardik was delighted with that direct hit, but it was a forgettable moment for Tewatia. In their first match, Tewatia watched on from the sidelines as Sherfane Rutherford kept missing the deliberate wide-angle deliveries from Vyshak Vijaykumar, trying to muscle it all over. When he came into bat eventually, Tewatia casually moved across the stumps and swept the same delivery over short fine for six. But shortly after, he was run out at the non-striker's end again, this time off a deflection from the bowler Arshdeep Singh. He must be hoping the bad luck quota for his season is over already.

- Vinayakk Mohanarangan

VS Raju bowls a brilliant final over to close out the innings. Gujarat Titans who did seem like would get to about 220 the way things where capitulated in the final few overs. However, it is not a bad total as the softer the ball got it got quite difficult to underneath for the batters. We will be right back with the chase do stay with us.

This has been brilliant last couple of overs from the Mumbai Indians. They have pulled back things superbly. However, it is quite a decent total. Even if the dew sets with another ball available after the second 10 things might balance out a bit. It will need some good batting effort from Mumbai to get these runs because of the sluggish nature of this surface.

Gujarat Titans have lost two wickets since our last update. First, it was Trent Boult who picked up Sai Sudharsan and then it was Rahul Tewatia who got himself runout in an unusual fashion. And as we update Deepak Chahar has picked up Sherfane Rutherford. The Titans are losing wickets in clusters here.

Sherfane Rutherford and Sai Sudharsan have got hold of Raju here in the last over. While he does have his variations he is not deceptive enough to trouble the batters at this point in time. Additionally, with someone as inexperienced as him it is a tough stage to bowl to someone like Rutherford.

It’s a slower ball that has the potential to go viral. It was Satyanarayana Raju’s first over, the 13th of the Gujarat Titans’s innings. He had watched Hardik Pandya bowl a slew of slower ones as the sluggish track demanded that skill. And off he went from his long run up, twisted his palm up to deliver the back of hand slower bouncer. Hilarity ensued. He had banged the ball almost on his own half and it popped up ever so slowly. Butler blinked, seemed taken aback, and had to stop his bat flow, and even appeared to be ready to duck or sway initially. But such was the pace and length that he had enough time to call for a gloves-change if needed. He steadied himself again and went for the pull as the ball finally dipped. The Englishman still didn’t get a good connection though, hitting it near the toe-end of the bat and had the deep square-leg fielder been a few yards to his left, he might well have been out. He smiled, but so did Rohit Sharma, who covered his face with his hands and had an extended chuckle. The slower ball that made Buttler freeze and Rohit smile.

- Sriram Veera

Shahrukh Khan has walked into the middle for the Titans. That was a huge show of faith from the Titans to send him in despite the power options they have. Over the years though Sharukh has been showing faith by the franchises he is yet to have the breakthrough season deserving his price. As we update Hardik picks up Shahrukh Khan.

Mujeeb has come back for his second spell and he has picked up the wicket of Jos Buttler. It was a hoik from Buttler through the off-side however instead of the middle Buttler could only find an outside edge which Rickelton took. GT has now lost two wickets Sharukh Khan has walked into the middle.

Another nice partnership here between Jos Buttler and Sai Sudharsan for the Titans. That has been how their side has been constructed over the years with the top order scoring many runs and the rest of the lower-order come to close out of the game. But in this iteration of the side, it is even more important that the top three scores as the middle-order of this unit lack a bit of experience.

Jos Buttler has started well here. He has come in and went about his business straight away. He has been attacking Mitchell Santner and it has been working as of now. Though Mujeeb did go for a few in his first over but it is interesting that Hardik has not turned back to him again for another over in this game especially with a left-hander at the crease.

As Gill fell, Jos Buttler who is the new batter who has walked into the middle tried to take a chance but he did not connect well. Satyanarayana Raju who was fielding at the long-on boundary caught himself into an awkward position with the boundary line and let the ball pass through his hands and the ball goes for a six.

Hardik Pandya has picked up Shubman Gill here. It has been a brilliant passage of play for Mumbai since the break. They have kept sucking the momentum out of this innings and eventually, Gill blinked with a pull shot, though it came out of the middle it went straight to the square-leg fielder placed for that exact shot.

Rohit Sharma was at short extra cover when Sai Sudharsan pulled a ball to deep square-leg. It was Rohit’s responsibility to get behind the stumps at non-striker’s end to back-up. Not necessarily upto the stumps, but just run to his left and stand. But such was the lack of drama in that shot and the assumption perhaps that there was just an easy single, that he didn’t get across. Even the batsman Sudharsan was gently jogging or almost walking ala Arjuna Ranatunga. But Naman Dhir spotted that gait, and fired a throw at the non-striker’s end. Caught by surprise, Rohit couldn’t get across in time and Dhir was on his knees flipping his palms down gently - no one wants to get too cross with a senior player like Rohit. But interestingly, perhaps knowing it was his job to have backed-up, Rohit too didn’t show any anger, he did raise his arms up as if to suggest what was the need for the throw but nothing more than that. Hardik Pandya tried valiantly rushing to his right from mid-off but couldn’t stop the ball from running to the boundary. Considering, Sudharshan was forced to rush frantically to make to the crease after he realised a throw was coming, one can’t blame Dhir for the attempt. Rohit would have known that even though Sunil Gavaskar was angry on air and blamed Dhir for that throw…

-Sriram Veera

It wasn't quite as epic as the "stupid, stupid, stupid" outburst from Sunil Gavaskar after Rishabh Pant's dismissal in Melbourne during the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. But the former India captain was angered once more on commentary thanks to a fielding brain-fade by Mumbai Indians at the Narendra Modi Stadium. B Sai Sudharsan tapped the ball to the deep square leg and was jogging casually towards the non-striker's end (on another night, that would have made Gavaskar unhappy). Naman Dhir at deep square leg, perhaps overambitiously, thought he could catch the batter by surprise and fired in a throw. But unfortunately for him, his teammates weren't ready for the throw. Deepak Chahar had already turned his back to walk to the run up. The throw then perfectly pierced the gap between Rohit Sharma and Hardik Pandya and went for an extra four runs. "Terrible, that is absolutely terrible cricket," Gavaskar – who has always hated a basic error like that when he sees one – said. "The fielder at deep fine leg, if he thought he is such a wonderful fielder, that he is gonna knock the stumps at the other end, then he has a thing coming. No wonder Chahar is not amused, those runs get added to his tally." 

- Vinayakk Mohanarangan

That was an expensive final over from Deepak Chahar which has forced Mumbai Indians to take the time out. While it might be a call to just break the momentum of the partnership it will be interesting to see what plans Mumbai comes in these middle overs as the softer the ball gets stroke -making might get a bit harder in the middle-overs for Gujarat.

This has been a solid start for the Gujarat Titans. Both Sai Sudharsan and Shubman Gill have read the nature of the wicket superbly and are batting well. Though it is not the usual start we are accustomed to in the IPL in recent times but this is a different wicket and it requires different skill sets and clearly GT won't need something around 300 to win

The Mumbai Indians are slipping in a few slower ones here. Hardik Pandya would mention that it is a black soil wicket hence it might start a bit slowly until the dew sets in later in the evening. As of now it is a good ploy from Mumbai it would not even be a bad choice to bring in one of the finger spinners they have in their unit. 

There is a bit of swing on offer for the Mumbai Indians bowlers however, whenever they are pitching the ball up both the Titans openers are prepared well enough to cover the line of the ball and put it into the gaps. Titans have got a nice assured start here and Mumbai Indians need to be a touch careful here both these are quite prolific openers.

Trent Boult has taken the opening over for Mumbai. There was a bit of swing on offer for the left-armer. However, once Sudharsan got off strike Shubman Gill charged down the track to hit one for a boundary. Deepak Chahar has taken the new ball from the other end for the visitors.

The atmosphere in the stadium is buzzing. Both the openers Shubman Gill and Sai Sudharsan have walked into the middle. Trent Boult is holding the new cherry and Hardik Pandya is setting some final fields here.

A bit unsure of this pitch, definitely not like the one that was used for the GT vs PBKS game. It is a different clay to the other surface, and this pitch could play a bit two-paced. The pitch looks a bit patchy, where 180 could be par. There will be enough for the bowlers, for change of pace. New ball might kiss off the surface. Don’t think it will be as good batting conditions as the earlier game at this venue. Both teams look consistent, they’d both like to chase just in case there is some dew, but don’t think this surface suits one team over the other. You got to play your best cricket to win.

Gujarat Titans Impact Subs: Mahipal Lomror, Glenn Phillips, Ishant Sharma, Anuj Rawat, Washington Sundar

Mumbai Indians Impact Subs: Robin Minz, Ashwani Kumar, Raj Bawa, Corbin Bosch, Will Jacks

Rohit Sharma, Ryan Rickelton(w), Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya(c), Tilak Varma, Naman Dhir, Mitchell Santner, Deepak Chahar, Trent Boult, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Satyanarayana Raju

Shubman Gill(c), Sai Sudharsan, Jos Buttler(w), Sherfane Rutherford, Shahrukh Khan, Rahul Tewatia, Rashid Khan, Ravisrinivasan Sai Kishore, Kagiso Rabada, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna

Batted first plenty of times here, so nothing changes for us. It is all about assessing the conditions and seeing what target we can set, and if we are chasing it is about how to get to that target. Plenty of positives from the last game, we just got slow in the middle and that post us, but still we managed to score about 200 runs in 14 overs. We have got the same team, might see one change with the impact sub. (On opening with Sai Sudharsan) We want to have a lefty - righty combination, and Jos has been playing at 3 for England, so nothing changes for him.

We'll bowl first. The simple reason is we don't know how the pitch will play, plus the dew factor. Only last year we played on black soil, otherwise we have been playing on red soil. Last year, we had the game under wraps but couldn't finish it. The prep has been fantastic, the boys are excited and we back each other, be there for each other. Very happy stage. I come back, and the others we are keeping the options open. Always about playing good cricket, planning right and enjoying the game.

“I knew there was a World Cup coming up and I had to shift my focus to the World Cup, knowing that this is going to be my last T20 World Cup. So I really wanted to make it count, and obviously I knew without the help of other players it is not going to be possible. So we just got around as a group and there was a lot of collective performance from everyone throughout the tournament,” 

“…that is where as a sportsman you need to show a little bit of grit, determination to comeback from the low. It (2024 IPL) was a low for the team and I think we didn’t play our best cricket also and there were so many things after IPL to look forward to,” he said.

“So, the roles have changed, a lot of things have changed but the mindset has not changed. What I want to do for this team has not changed, just to go out there and win games and trophies, that is what MI is known for all these years,”

“Obviously, since the time I started till now lot of things have changed because I used to bat middle-order then, now I am opening the batting. I was captain then (MI), now I am not the captain. There were a few teammates with whom I won championships, they are not there, they are in the coaching role now,”

Both teams face significant bowling challenges, especially with their Indian pace attack lacking variation and proving expensive. The match will be played on a batting-friendly Ahmedabad pitch, promising a high-scoring encounter. MI’s batting lineup, including the inconsistent forms of Suryakumar Yadav and Rohit Sharma, is a concern, as is their wicket-keeping situation.

Unearthing new talents away from the cricketing heartlands may have well become a habit these days for Mumbai. After all, from Jasprit Bumrah to the Pandya brothers and Tilak Varma to Nehal Wadhera, they keep doing it season after season. Yet, it is with Vignesh that they have actually taken the giant leap of faith.

Mumbai Indians’ scouting is renowned from Season 1 for unearthing gems like Jasprit Bumrah and even fast-tracking Hardik Pandya and Vignesh joins a long list of cricketers who the franchise with its extensive eyes-and-ears network, fish out from oblivion. With Vignesh, they struck 24 carat Malappuram gold.

Yeah, yorkers, if you’re executing them, are still a very effective ball to have. It’s a timeless ball to have up your sleeve. The way the batters can hit these days, with the size of the bats, it becomes a risk-and-reward situation. But, honestly, I still haven’t seen too many batters able to put away that perfect yorker, you know? It is still not easy to hit yorkers for sixes. It’s extremely important for my game as well. I keep trying to top up on it every day I am at the nets.

Shubman Gill (C), Jos Buttler, Sai Sudharsan, Shahrukh Khan, Sherfane Rutherford, Washington Sundar, Rahul Tewatia, Rashid Khan, R Sai Kishore, Kagiso Rabada, Prasidh Krishna, Mohammed Siraj

Ryan Rickelton (wk), Rohit Sharma, Will Jacks, Suryakumar Yadav, Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya (C), Naman Dhir, Mitchell Santner, Deepak Chahar, Trent Boult, Satyanarayana Raju Vignesh Puthur

It has made it easier for batters in the death overs. The two new balls were introduced to level the playing field in the Powerplays because of flatter wickets. I do think, especially, in the last phase of the ODIs, the finishing batters back in the day had to be more skilled because of reverse swing on offer. It’s now easier for batters with two harder balls, they can just swing through the line. It’s much harder to hit a softer ball.

MI who always intended to go after him, would find their Malappuram gold who lit up (slightly wannabe titled) El Clasico. “At the MI nets, he had bowled to Hardik Pandya and Lasith Malinga had watched him closely,” the chat show informed.

Son of Bindu and Sunil Kumar from Malappuram in Kerala, the 24-year-old had played in the Kerala Premier League, from where he was scouted, but never First Class cricket for the Ranji trophy finalists. MI Live, the franchise’s in-house chat show discussed how the scouting had come about, with the panellists saying, “The story goes that he had never played First Class cricket, appeared in Kerala premier League and had hoped to land a spot as a net bowler. Vignesh had in fact switched off the TV after he wasn’t picked at the auction initially. Apparently, his friends called him up after he was taken at the accelerated auction.”

I guess so. Using saliva and sweat are two different aspects… they have different textures, though I can’t explain scientifically how it affects the ball. Let’s see how this IPL goes with saliva being used again. It’s definitely interesting.

Yes, because that’s the way the game is headed. You can’t sit back and complain about the conditions. You must do something about it as a bowler. However, the game of cricket as a whole would just be boring if you just saw high scores or low scores all the time. The most exciting games are the ones which hang in the balance, requiring batters to apply themselves when wickets fall and play really well to win matches for their teams, or bowlers to step up in the same manner. It shouldn’t be about just survival for either.