Fantasy Pick: Hardik, Chahal could give big returns
Apr 14: Rajasthan Royals v Gujarat Titans, 24th Match, DY Patil Stadium, Navi Mumbai
Safe XI: Sanju Samson, Rassie van der Dussen, Shimron Hetmyer, Shubman Gill, Devdutt Padikkal, Sai Sudharsan, Hardik Pandya (capt), Yuzvendra Chahal (vice-capt), Trent Boult, Rashid Khan, Lockie Ferguson
Captain: Hardik Pandya
Hardik, the allrounder, is well and truly back in this IPL after not bowling in the last couple of seasons due to injury. His scores with the bat this season so far are 50, 27, 31 and 33. He has also picked up a wicket in each of his last three outings. Hardik has an excellent record against Royals in the IPL. In the seven innings that he has batted against them, Hardik has remained unbeaten on four occasions, scoring 186 runs at a strike rate of 195.79.
Vice-captain: Yuzvendra Chahal
The current purple cap holder with 11 wickets in four outings is our vice-captain pick for this game. He has scored the most fantasy points (638) in the WonderWins app among players from these two teams this season. Chahal has picked 32 wickets in his last 19 matches in the IPL and for India, managing at least one wicket in each of these outings.
Hot Picks
Sanju Samson: The Royals skipper started the season briskly with a couple of important knocks - 55 off 27 balls and 30 off 21 balls - but has had a sedate couple of outings since. Samson's primary strength is his scoring rate in the middle phase of a T20 game. Since IPL 2021, in 15 matches, he has scored 406 runs in the middle overs at a strike rate of 149.81.
Shimron Hetmyer: Hetmyer has shown his class with his finishing abilities this season. His scores so far in the tournament read 59*, 42*, 35 and 32. He has scored the most runs in death overs this season - 131 runs in four outings at a phenomenal strike rate of 262, which includes 13 sixes.
Differential Picks
Devdutt Padikkal: The 21-year-old has been a consistent performer for both the teams he has played so far in the IPL. His scores this season are 29, 37, 7 and 41, and he has now moved to the opener's position from No 3 at Royals, after Yashasvi Jaiswal was dropped in the last game.
Sai Sudharsan: This 20-year-old youngster from Tamil Nadu enjoyed a promising IPL debut scoring 35 against Punjab Kings. He was the second-highest run-scorer in TNPL 2021, with 358 runs in eight outings at an average of 71.60, and a strike rate of 143.77.
High Risk XI: Jos Buttler (capt), Shimron Hetmyer, Shubman Gill (vice-capt), Devdutt Padikkal, Abhinav Manohar, Hardik Pandya, Riyan Parag, Yuzvendra Chahal, Mohammed Shami, Prasidh Krishna, Lockie Ferguson