Vettori also hailed Moeen Ali, who beat Virat Kohli on Wednesday at MCA Stadium in Pune, in an interview with ESPNcricinfo’s T20 Time Out.

“I can imagine R Ashwin or Harbhajan Singh bowling really rapidly to him in the powerplay and him just hunting for singles and not dominating them.” This, however, is different. “This is Moeen Ali attempting to spin the ball wide of off stump, and I think I’ve seen that dismissal a few times in Test matches,” Vettori remarked.

“And that’s a tribute to Moeen Ali and his bowling style, because he was able to target those places with a little bit of drift and then that rapid spin.” So far, this style of bowling seemed to have bothered him a little. It’s a fantastic ball.

“It’s a magnificent bit of bowling, and the surface allowed it to happen, as well as the fact that Kohli was only aiming for singles,” he continued.

“We’ve got to say that it was a very good spell of bowling from Moeen Ali. I mean when an off spinner can put that much pressure on a right-handed batsman trying to get s

ingles, trying not even look to be aggressive towards him, showed that the pace that Moeen Ali was bowling. And it had quick spin, I think that’s the thing that might separate this surface, that it did spin quickly,” said Vettori.

“But it just feels like it comes down to intent: at no stage did Kohli look like he was going for anything but a single. So, you plant foot down the crease, and you wait for the ball to come. If the ball is in the right spot, you can’t manipulate a single. And Kohli at his best takes on off spin because he’s aggressive, he hits them straight, and then he hits his hard ones. So, it is all about intent. And maybe the loss of the wicket, the run-out of Maxwell just put him back in his cage, and he thought ‘I need to bat for an extended period of time’. But he is good enough to use his feet against Moeen Ali,” he added.

In the game between RCB and CSK, the latter were unable to chase down 174 runs and were eventually defeated by 13 runs. After returning with numbers of 3-35, Harshal Patel was named Man of The Match.

Earlier, Mahipal Lomror and Dinesh Karthik contributed 42 and 26 runs respectively to enable RCB reach 173/8 in 20 overs. With this win, RCB climbed to fourth place in the points table, while CSK fell to ninth.

Here’s how GT would line up against MI:

Wriddhiman Saha has been in excellent form after being assigned the responsibility of opening the batting with Shubman Gill. However, in order to secure his spot in a competitive GT squad, the wicket-keeper batsman will have to keep up the fine job.

Shubman Gill: GT has been concerned about the youngster’s erratic performance. In ten games, the batter has scored 269 runs, including two 50-run games.

Sai Sudharsan: After a brave fifty in the previous game, he received a lot of acclaim and would look to duplicate it against MI.

Hardik Pandya: He has been the team’s backbone. His bat versatility has aided the club in a variety of ways. The hitter has not only handled the pressure of seeing out early overs with the loss of rapid wickets, but he has also concluded in style with powerful strokes.

David Miller: Since being given a long run in the starting XI, the South African has continued to live up to the finisher’s job. His ability to bat in the bottom of the order has been a huge asset to the squad.

Rahul Tewatia: He struggled to get going against PBKS, which was an unusual failure. His batting struggles included 11 runs in 13 balls.

Rashid Khan: The leg-spinner has impressed with the ball thus far, but the squad would like to see more from Rashid, the hitter. He wants to forget about his recent loss against PBKS (golden duck) and start over.

Vijay Shankar: The all-rounder could take over for Sangwan, who struggled in his two overs against PBKS. Pandya may be forced to send in Shankar after the latter allowed 23 runs in 12 balls.

Alzarri Joseph: Joseph struggled with the bat, conceding 25 runs in 18 balls against PBKS. In the upcoming matches, the bowler hopes to add to his wicket total.

Lockie Ferguson: Ferguson’s pace has plagued even the best batters, and the fast bowler can certainly target the MI batting line-up for wickets. This season, the Kiwi pacer has consistently clocked 150 kph.

Mohammed Shami: Despite a strong start against PBKS, Liam Livingstone took him to task. However, considering his ability, he should be able to rebound against MI.

But before all that could happen, GT dugout had some nervous moments as Tewatia and Rashid Khan had a tough task ahead of them. Tewatia hit Jansen for a six over deep mid-wicket off the first ball and then took a single. With the main batter off the strike, GT camp was jittery. But Khan hit a six straight down the ground on the third ball but the fourth ball was a dot.

With GT needing nine off two balls, Khan first sliced one for the maximum and then off the last ball hit another six to take his team to a win.

“Feels good, to go there and have that self-belief and keep my shape stronger and hit it, Happy to deliver against them (SRH), just trying to play my game and have that belief on my batting which I’m working from the last two years,” Khan said after the match.

“When it was 22 lefts. I just told Tewatia that we have given 25 in the last over with one of our best bowler bowling and I told him that we needed to have that belief and not panic, anything is possible. Just stay there, keep your shape and hit it strong and that was the plan (with Tewatia).”

A comfortable and convincing victory for Gujarat at the end! After losing their previous game, they have done well to get over the line here, and with this victory, they move to the top of the points table. While Rajasthan have been handed their second defeat of this tournament.

Gujarat Titans skipper Hardik Pandya expressed elation after his side defeated Lucknow Super Giants in the clash of debutants of Indian Premier League 2022 on Monday (March 28). Fighting knocks from Deepak Hooda and Ayush Badoni guided Lucknow Super Giants to 158/6 in their assigned 20 overs before their fellow IPL debutants Gujarat Titans chased the target with two balls to spare.

“This was the right game for us to be on either side and learn, but have learnt a lot by winning. Shami is known for his seam positions and he got us to a great start. We would have any day taken 160 on this wicket. Mostly I’ll bat at number four because I want to take pressure with my experience so that the others can play freely. We want to win as a team and nobody can take the contribution away from anyway,” said Hardik in a post-match presentation.

“It was quite humid as well, so I wouldn’t have finished Shami’s spell over there. Manohar is some talent to look at with the talent he has. He is someone who you are going to hear about in the future. Tewatia was sensational as well. Getting out to Krunal would have pinched me more had we lost, but now the family is neutral and happy. He got me out and we won the match,” he added.

On Sunday, Gujarat Titans appointed Afghanistan spinner Rashid Khan as their vice-captain ahead of their Indian Premier League 2022 opening match against Lucknow Super Giants in Mumbai on Monday. Rashid was picked by Gujarat Titans ahead of the auction for INR 15 crore, the same amount that they paid for skipper Hardik Pandya.

Gujarat Titans made an official announcement on their social media handle and posted an adorable picture of Hardik and Rashid having a laugh together. “In yet another #SeasonOfFirsts, Rashid Bhai becomes our vice-captain,” the caption of the post read.

In yet another #SeasonOfFirsts, Rashid bhai becomes our Vice Captain! 💙#TitansFAM #AavaDe #TATAIPL pic.twitter.com/7QxFLtuah8

— Gujarat Titans (@gujarat_titans) March 27, 2022

Rashid Khan is enthralled at the prospect of playing alongside Hardik Pandya at Gujarat Titans. The duo haven’t played together ever, having represented different teams in the IPL until now, but the leg-spinner has praised the Titans skipper as the one with the positive vibes.