IPL 2023: Predicting 3 players who will take most wickets in today's GT vs KKR clash
Defending champions Gujarat Titans (GT) will square off against the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in the 13th game of IPL 2023 at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on Sunday, April 9.
Both teams are coming into the game on the back of victories and will hope to keep their winning runs going. While GT have two victories from as many matches, KKR bounced back in their last outing, beating Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) to put their campaign on track.
The Knight Riders will be excited about their spin trio comprising Sunil Narine, Varun Chakravarthy, and Suyash Sharma, who were in spectacular form against RCB. The KKR think tank will hope to carry the momentum as they look to secure their second win of the season.
GT have picked up from where they left off last year. The likes of Shubman Gill, Rahul Tewatia, and Rashid Khan have performed admirably every time they have been put under pressure. Gujarat have performed like a well-oiled unit in their first two matches and will hope to make it three wins in three when they face KKR.
While Ahmedabad is known to produce batting-friendly wickets, bowlers will also extract some assistance from it. On that note, let's take a look at three players who can pick up the most wickets in today's GT vs KKR tie.
#1 Mohammed Shami
GT pacer Mohammed Shami has been one of the best powerplay bowlers in the last couple of seasons. Since IPL 2020, Shami has picked up 25 wickets in the first six overs, the second-best after Trent Boult (33).
The senior Team India bowler has looked in good rhythm in the first two games, picking up five wickets in total.
With KKR's top-order struggling for runs, Shami will have a good chance of adding more wickets to his tally and leapfrogging others to the top of the wicket-taking charts.
#2 Varun Chakravarthy
After enduring a poor season last year, which saw him get benched, Varun Chakravarthy has worked hard to make his way into KKR's playing XI in IPL 2023.
He has already picked up five wickets in two matches, including a four-wicket haul against RCB.
With momentum on his side and a lot of variations in his arsenal, Chakravarthy will be Kolkata's go-to bowler against GT.
#3 Rashid Khan
Rashid Khan is arguably the best spinner in the shortest format. He keeps things tight while batters struggle a great deal to pick his googly.
The talented leg-spinner has got off to a flying start in IPL 2023, picking up five wickets in two matches at an economy rate of 7.13.
Rashid will hope to deliver the goods with the ball once again on Sunday against a fragile KKR batting unit.