Hardik Pandya’s return from a one-match suspension is expected to bolster five-time IPL champions Mumbai Indians as they aim to bounce back from the opening defeat in their second game against 2022 champions Gujarat Titans at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on Saturday.

As far as the Titans are concerned, the home side will also be aiming for their first win of the season after going down to Punjab Kings in a high-scoring thriller, by 11 runs despite putting 232 on the board.

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Meanwhile, Mumbai’s long-standing curse of losing tournament openers continued as they went down to Chennai Super Kings by four wickets at the Chepauk. Following the opening defeat, the Mumbai squad regrouped at Reliance’s Jamnagar facility for a few days of rest and team bonding.

Pandya’s men will, however, be aware that the real test awaits at the Motera, where conditions are expected to heavily favour the batters, as seen when over 470 runs were scored in the Titans-Punjab Kings encounter.

The absence of Pandya due to a ban impacted the composition of the Mumbai Indians outfit in the opening clash. The all-rounder’s return offers flexibility with both bat and ball, including as a potential death-overs specialist, a role Punjab’s Vyshak Vijaykumar performed with great success against Gujarat.

It would be interesting to see who makes way for Pandya’s return, but in all likelihood, it seems, young batter Robin Minz could be the one as he looked out of sorts in his debut outing. MI’s batting, already missing the consistency of Suryakumar Yadav and the vintage form of Rohit Sharma, will need to step up in friendlier batting conditions.

One of MI’s main problems is wicket-keeping as they rely heavily on Ryan Rickleton to deliver both with gloves and the bat. The team’s lack of depth in this department could come into focus again.

The bigger concern for Mumbai, however, is their pace attack. Without Jasprit Bumrah, their bowling lacked bite and direction. Pandya’s ability to chip in with key overs will be crucial, especially if the pitch remains flat.

It will also be a test for rookie left-arm wrist spinner Vignesh Puthur, who got three CSK wickets on a helpful track. At Motera, the ball won’t grip as much as it did at Chepauk and the turn will also be minimal. How the youngster is managed by his skipper is a big question.

No timeline on Bumrah: Mahela

As MI continues their campaign without Bumrah, head coach Mahela Jayawardene provided an update on the star pacer, saying the team is yet to hear from the National Centre of Excellence in Bengaluru.

While Bumrah is expected to join the MI side by mid-April, the former Sri Lanka skipper said, “On a daily basis he’s going through his programme. So far everything seems ok but there were no timelines given by NCA so we’ll wait on that.”

Gujarat’s bowling woes

The Gujarat Titans have their own issues to work on, particularly in the bowling department. Mohammed Siraj had a forgettable outing in the opener, conceding 54 runs, and with mostly one-dimensional Indian pace options in the squad, the onus will be on Kagiso Rabada and Rashid Khan to both contain and strike.

Head coach Ashish Nehra will have to make some strategic decisions, particularly regarding overseas player selection. Glenn Phillips, who offers both batting depth and off-spin, could be a more balanced option, especially after Sherfane Rutherford struggled against Punjab. Titans captain Shubman Gill’s form with the bat will be another key factor that the team will be expecting to pick pace quickly.

Squads:

Gujarat Titans: Jos Buttler, Shubman Gill, Sai Sudharsan, Glenn Phillips, Shahrukh Khan, Washington Sundar, Rahul Tewatia, Rashid Khan, Ravisrinivasan Sai Kishore, Kagiso Rabada, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Ishant Sharma, Jayant Yadav, Mahipal Lomror, Karim Janat, Kulwant Khejroliya, Anuj Rawat, Gerald Coetzee, Sherfane Rutherford, Manav Suthar, Kumar Kushagra, Arshad Khan, Gurnoor Brar, Nishant Sindhu

Mumbai Indians: Hardik Pandya (c), Rohit Sharma, Suryakumar Yadav, Robin Minz, Ryan Rickelton (wk), Shrijith Krishnan (wk), Bevon Jacobs, Tilak Varma, Naman Dhir, Will Jacks, Mitchell Santner, Raj Angad Bawa, Vignesh Puthur, Corbin Bosch, Trent Boult, Karn Sharma, Deepak Chahar, Ashwani Kumar, Reece Topley, VS Penmetsa, Arjun Tendulkar, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Jasprit Bumrah.