IPL 2023, GT vs KKR: Here's why Rashid Khan is leading Gujarat Titans in place of Hardik Pandya

IPL 2023: Gujarat Titans hosts Kolkata Knight Riders in Ahmedabad on Sunday. However, the hosts are being led by Rashid Khan in this fixture instead of Hardik Pandya, and here is why.

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Defending champion Gujarat Titans (GT) won the toss. It elected to bat first against former two-time champion Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in Match 13 of the 2023 Indian Premier League (IPL) at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on Sunday. However, Afghan leg-spinner Rashid Khan is leading GT instead of regular skipper Hardik Pandya, who is unwell and will miss the game.

Speaking about Pandya missing, Rashid communicated during the toss, "Just unwell slightly, don't want to take risks with him. As a team, we will play good cricket. We want to bat well and put runs on the board." GT made one forced change, bringing in Vijay Shankar instead of Pandya. KKR made two changes, with Lockie Ferguson and N Jagadeesan coming in for Tim Southee and Mandeep Singh. "We would like to bat first. It looks like a fresh wicket. Hopefully, we can put up a good total and defend it," said Rashid during the toss.

Playing XI:
GT: Shubman Gill, Wriddhiman Saha (wk), Sai Sudharsan, Vijay Shankar, David Miller, Rahul Tewatia, Rashid Khan (c) Alzarri Joseph, Josh Little, Yash Dayal and Mohammed Shami.
KKR: Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), Nitish Rana (c), N Jagadeesan, Rinku Singh, Andre Russell, Shardul Thakur, Sunil Narine, Lockie Ferguson, Umesh Yadav, Suyash Sharma and Varun Chakravarthy.

Impact subs:
GT: Jayant Yadav, Srikar Bharat, Mohit Sharma, Matthew Wade and Joshua Little.
KKR: Anukul Roy, Vaibhav Arora, David Wiese, Mandeep Singh and Venkatesh Iyer.

(With inputs from PTI)