"It's Mohammad Shami's return and Mohammed Siraj will play against Hyderabad" - Aakash Chopra on bowling battle in GT vs SRH IPL 2025 clash

Former India player Aakash Chopra has noted that Mohammad Shami vs Mohammed Siraj could be a riveting contest in the IPL 2025 clash between the SunRisers Hyderabad (SRH) and the Gujarat Titans (GT). He pointed out that while Shami is returning to his former franchise's home ground, Siraj will be playing in his hometown.

GT and SRH will square off in Match 51 of IPL 2025 in Ahmedabad on Friday, May 2. While the hosts have garnered 12 points from nine games and are placed fourth on the points table, the visitors occupy the ninth spot in the standings after accumulating six points from their nine matches.

In a video shared on his YouTube channel 'Aakash Chopra', the former India opener noted that Shami's battle with Siraj will be an interesting subplot in Friday's IPL 2025 game and wondered whether the Ahmedabad pitch will suit the former GT pacer.

"It's Mohammad Shami's return and Mohammed Siraj, who is otherwise from Hyderabad, will play against Hyderabad. So that is an interesting one. Shami's performance has not been good. He has remained troubled. Will this Ahmedabad pitch be to his liking?" he said (9:45).

Chopra added that the GT seamers, including Siraj, will hope to bounce back from the mauling they received from Vaibhav Suryavanshi in their last game against the Rajasthan Royals (RR).

"Will Siraj do against his hometown team what he has been consistently doing? It's probably important from Siraj and Prasidh Krishna's point of view because they got hit a lot in the last match. So you want to settle the scores. You want to show that it was an aberration. Let normalcy be restored," he observed.

Mohammed Siraj has picked up 12 wickets at an economy rate of 9.02 in nine innings in IPL 2025. Mohammad Shami has accounted for only six dismissals in eight innings and has conceded an average of 10.70 runs per over.

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"Left-arm spin can work there" - Aakash Chopra expects a bigger role for Sai Kishore in GT vs SRH IPL 2025 clash

Sai Kishore (right) registered figures of 2/24 in four overs in GT's IPL 2025 away game against SRH. [P/C: Getty]

In the same video, Aakash Chopra opined that Sai Kishore could be utilized more in GT's IPL 2025 clash against SRH.

"I also feel Sai Kishore will get to bowl this time. Although left-handers are there, but only in the top three. So if you dismiss the top three, all right-handers come after that, and left-arm spin can work there," he said (10:25).

To conclude, the cricketer-turned-commentator picked Shubman Gill and company as the favorites for Friday's game.

"You can call it a tale of contrasting fortunes, as both have played the same number of games, and one has won as many games as the other has lost. GT have won six and Hyderabad have lost six. One (SRH) is coming after beating Chennai, and the other is coming after a loss. So it has become very interesting. The scales are tilted towards Gujarat. I feel Gujarat will win this match," Chopra observed.

The Gujarat Titans beat the SunRisers Hyderabad by seven wickets in Hyderabad on April 6 in the reverse fixture. Another win for the IPL 2022 champions will put them on the verge of a playoff berth and virtually knock the 2016 edition winners out of the race.