Gujarat Titans (Playing XI): Shubman Gill(c), Jos Buttler(w), Sherfane Rutherford, Shahrukh Khan, Rahul Tewatia, Rashid Khan, Kagiso Rabada, Arshad Khan, Ravisrinivasan Sai Kishore, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna

Delhi Capitals (Playing XI): Faf du Plessis, Abishek Porel, Sameer Rizvi, KL Rahul(w), Axar Patel(c), Tristan Stubbs, Ashutosh Sharma, Vipraj Nigam, Kuldeep Yadav, T Natarajan, Mustafizur Rahman

Gujarat Titans (Playing XI): Shubman Gill(c), Jos Buttler(w), Sherfane Rutherford, Shahrukh Khan, Rahul Tewatia, Rashid Khan, Kagiso Rabada, Arshad Khan, Ravisrinivasan Sai Kishore, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna

Axar Patel - We too wanted to bowl first, but we'll now looks to post a good total. We're taking one game at a time, not thinking too far ahead,

Shubman Gill - We will bowl first. Not easy to start all over again, but good rest for our pacers, KG comes back, that's a positive for us. We've had a good run, but we have three games and we're looking to win all of them.

Gujarat Titans have won the toss and have opted to field

Karun Nair: Firstly, a heartfelt message to our armed forces for keeping us safe, and to help us get back on the field to do something we love. We’ve had a few days off and a few days of intense practice with the team. Some of them have joined late as well. It has been good, I think it was a good reset for us, time to come back and start fresh. We need to start winning those small moments, all about the small margins. I’ve been batting really well over the last 12-16 months. For me it was just about going out there and following the same process. Was lucky enough to get a good start but haven’t been able to convert those starts in the next few games. Overall, been batting well and been batting well in the nets. All about making those starts count. We get the top three (Sai Sudharsan, Buttler, Gill) of them out, and we are halfway through winning the game. The plan would be simple, to try and get them out cheaply and put pressure on their middle order.

Sai Kishore - To be fair, we stayed together as a unit which has given us plenty of time to rest, refresh and top up our skill set. Opportunities for me in the IPL or the Indian team has come after a lot of grind, so I came 100% prepared and I don't want to leave anything on the table. With this impact player rule, the captain has a lot of options, sometimes favourable match-ups are available and that gives a lesser number of overs for a bowler, but I do keep myself prepared, work on my skills and be prepared. Sticking to our potential and process, if we play to our best, any team should be easy for us. There's not a lot of bounce on this pitch, sticking to the right length is the key.

The dimensions of this ground - 58m and 66m square boundaries, the straight boundary is 71m. This is a used pitch and should be good for the spinners. Very hot, not a lot of wind, looks dry with a smattering of grass. It could grip and turn for the spinners, The average score batting first in the last 10 innings is 216, so there should be plenty of runs, but it could turn a bit for the spinners, reckon Graeme Swann and Matthew Hayden, in their pitch report

18:30 Local Time, 13:00 GMT, 18:30 IST: It's a crunch Sunday encounter between two teams who're looking to book their berth in the playoffs. For Gujarat Titans, it's relatively straightforward, a win today and they're through to the next phase of the tournament. For the Capitals, they've no choice but to keep winning, three wins out of three will definitely be enough to secure a place in the playoffs, but it's not as simple as it looks, this is a team that squandered a great start and haven't won a match since April 22nd. They've also lost Mitchell Starc for the rest of the tournament, although they've adequately replaced him with Mustafizur Rahman, at least for the league phase. Up against them is a team which is pretty much stable and running like a well-oiled machine. The top-3 of the Titans have been invincible this season and they'll hope that the break hasn't caused any disruptions. On paper, they look strong and will hope to resume the tournament on a good note.

Preview

Little over a week after the dramatic mid-game evacuation, amidst peaking Indo-Pak skirmishes, Delhi Capitals will return to the comforts of their high-scoring home Delhi - also a high-alert area ever since - in a bid to revitalise their IPL 2025 campaign on Sunday, against table-toppers Gujarat Titans.

While the mental scars from that night in Dharamsala may linger for many, DC were also spared the wrath of an on-song PBKS top-order that could have potentially cost them more valuable points following a dip in their recent performances. Of their last six games as of that fateful night, Delhi had won just one, lost three, had one washed out in Hyderabad after their plummeted to 133/7, and were literally pulled out from a tough spot they found themselves in against Punjab, who were 122/1 in just 10 overs at the time of the blackout orders.

A playoffs spot is still very much on the table with three games in hand, albeit all against sides above them in the points table, but Delhi will have to shake off any complacency to get back to their ruthless best form that they kick-started the IPL 2025 in. A significant loss for DC amidst the events of last week is that they no longer have the services of the experienced Mitchell Starc, who has decided against returning for the remainder of the season. While his numbers may have dwindled in the second half of the league, Starc is a proven big-game player who would have vital to DC's chances at the business end of the competition.

For the Titans, the personnel loss was minimal. Only now, Jos Buttler will not be available beyond the league games with the season now dragged to the first week of June after a temporary one-week suspension. But that's a bridge they will cross when it comes. With 16 points from 11 games, GT remained primed for a top-two finish even though they might find themselves displaced from their top spot before they actually take the field tomorrow. They have three games in hand, of which the last-two are against teams in the bottom half of the table, and one more win will secure the a playoffs spot.

For now, the Titans would be focussed on sustaining the momentum they have gained. The top-three are all in the 500-run club, and amongst the top-five in the Orange Cap race, but the consequent lack of game-time for the middle order is a potential flaw waiting to rear its ugly head again. GT had nearly suffered an implosion in the rain-marred contest in Mumbai before a DLS-adjusted score and a few timely blows at the end from Gerald Coetzee rescued the two points for them. The Titans would love for more of their middle-order to join the party before Buttler's departure leaves them exposed.

When: Sunday, May 18 at 7:30 PM IST

Where: Arun Jaitley Stadium, Delhi

What to expect: Delhi has been a high-scoring venue with an average first-innings score of 215 since IPL 2024. Barring that, the weather remains clear for the game-night even though the day is expected to see temperatures in the range of early 40s.

Head-to-Head: DC 3 - 3 GT. In Delhi it's a 1-1 record for both these teams.

Teams Watch

Delhi Capitals

Injuries & Availability: Mitchell Starc has withdrawn, and Mustafizur Rahman is only likely to fly in on Sunday morning at the earliest after playing the first T20I for Bangladesh in UAE on Saturday night. It's likely DC will go short on their overseas player quota, like at the start of the league.

Tactics & Match-ups: DC will rely on Kuldeep Yadav and Axar Patel against Jos Buttler, with the spin-duo having dismissed the England batter three times apiece in all T20s. Kuldeep could also prove useful against Sai Susharsan, having conceded only 22 runs off 20 balls for one wicket.

Probable XII: Faf du Plessis, Abishek Porel, KL Rahul (wk), Sameer Rizvi/Karun Nair, Axar Patel (C), Tristan Stubbs, Ashutosh Sharma, Vipraj Nigam, Mukesh Kumar/Mohit Sharma, Dushmantha Chameera, Kuldeep Yadav, T Natarajan

Gujarat Titans

Injuries & Availability: Jos Buttler and Kagiso Rabada have both rejoined the squad, even though the former England skipper isn't now available for the entirety of the league.

Tactics & Match-ups: Should Kagiso Rabada feature in the playing XI, he has favourable matchups against Faf du Plessis and KL Rahul, having dismissed them five and three times respectively. Rashid Khan has also dismissed the two batters thrice each while Prasidh Krishna has accounted for Rahul's wicket three times.

Probable XII: Sai Sudharsan, Shubman Gill (C), Jos Buttler (wk), Sherfane Rutherford, Rahul Tewatia, Shahrukh Khan, Rashid Khan, R Sai Kishore, Arshad Khan, Gerald Coetzee/Kagiso Rabada, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna

Did you know?

- DC's opening partnership averages only 20.18 in this IPL season, the lowest among all teams. On the other hand, GT's openers have added 634 runs at an average of 57.63 in 11 games so far - the most by any team

- In his first five matches in this IPL, Shubman Gill scored 148 runs at an average of 37 with a strike rate of 146.53, with one fifty. In his last six games, he has struck four half-centuries and has scored 360 runs at an average of 60 with a strike rate of 155.17

- In his first three matches, KL Rahul scored 195 runs at an average of 92.50 and a strike rate of 169.72 with two fifties. But in his last seven games, he has got 196 runs at an average of 32.66 with a strike rate of 123.27 and has only one half-century

- Kuldeep Yadav has picked up only two wickets in his last five matches, averaging 75.5 with an economy of 7.94. In his first five matches, he bagged 10 wickets at an average of 11.2 with an economy of 5.6

What they said:

"We are taking it as a fresh start. Our focus is on how we began our campaign from the first game, and we will try to continue that momentum. We have a few replacements. It is tough to replace Mitchell Starc, but we have regrouped as a team. We don't want to dwell on the absence of players who are not here, but we will try to give our best with the players available" - Vipraj Nigam, on the non-availability of a few overseas players.

Squads:

Delhi Capitals Squad: Faf du Plessis, Abishek Porel, Karun Nair, KL Rahul(w), Axar Patel(c), Tristan Stubbs, Ashutosh Sharma, Vipraj Nigam, Kuldeep Yadav, Dushmantha Chameera, Mohit Sharma, Mukesh Kumar, T Natarajan, Mustafizur Rahman, Ajay Jadav Mandal, Darshan Nalkande, Sediqullah Atal, Sameer Rizvi, Donovan Ferreira, Tripurana Vijay, Manvanth Kumar L, Madhav Tiwari

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