GT vs RR: De Villiers, Shastri & Jaffer predict winner; tip 'better bowling' to prevail

Hardik Pandya-led Gujarat Titans (GT) will face Sanju Samson's Rajasthan Royals (RR) in Qualifier 1 of the Indian Premier League (IPL) on Tuesday. The match will take place in Kolkata's Eden Gardens and will start at 7:30 p.m. IST. Both teams will be keen to win the game as it will guarantee them a spot in the final. Meanwhile, a number of former cricketers, including Ravi Shastri, AB de Villiers, Daniel Vettori, Wasim Jaffer, and Aakash Chopra have predicted who will win Qualifier 1.

Former cricketers AB de Villiers and Wasim Jaffer appeared for a chat on VUSport and shared their thoughts on tonight's game between Gujarat and Rajasthan. While De Villiers picked Gujarat Titans to win Qualifier 1, Jaffer went with Rajasthan Royals for the big-ticket clash. Jaffer said that he will go with Rajasthan as his pick if De Villiers is backing Gujarat. 

Ravi Shastri and Daniel Vettori expressed their views on the game while speaking to ESPNcricinfo. While Vettori backed Rajasthan Royals to win Qualifier 1, Shastri picked Gujarat Titans as the favourites. Vettori said that both sides have pretty good bowling attacks but Rajasthan, according to him, will have an upper hand because of their spin bowling combination of Yuzvendra Chahal and Ravichandran Ashwin. Shastri said that Gujarat Titans have a better bowling attack and that it will give them an edge in Qualifier 1.

Former India opener Aakash Chopra picked Rajasthan Royals to win Qualifier 1 on Tuesday. Chopra said that Gujarat's bowling is slightly better than Rajasthan but he would still go with the latter when it comes to picking a winner.

The winner of Qualifier 1 will fly directly to Ahmedabad to play in the IPL 2022 final on May 29. The losing side, on the other hand, will face the winner of the Eliminator between Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) and Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in Qualifier 2 on May 27. Qualifier 2 is also slated to be held in Ahmedabad at Narendra Modi Stadium. 

GT vs RR: Predicted XIs

Gujarat Titans: Shubman Gill, Wriddhiman Saha (wk), Matthew Wade, Hardik Pandya (captain), David Miller, Rahul Tewatia, Rashid Khan, R Sai Kishore, Mohammed Shami, Lockie Ferguson, Yash Dayal.

Rajasthan Royals: Jos Buttler, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Sanju Samson (captain, wk), Devdutt Padikkal, Shimron Hetmyer, Riyan Parag, Ravichandran Ashwin, Trent Boult, Obed McCoy, Yuzvendra Chahal, Prasidh Krishna.

Image: AP/PTI/IPL/BCCI