Gujarat Titans won the toss and decided to bowl first in the crucial game against table toppers Punjab Kings in Ahmedabad on Sunday, May 3. Both teams made some big changes to their playing XIs at Narendra Modi Stadium.

Nishant Sindu, the 22-year-old batting all-rounder, received his maiden IPL cap. He replaced struggling Shahrukh Khan in GT's playing XI against PBKS. Meanwhile, Prasidh Krishna was absent from the squad once again, with no official update on his omission from captain Shubman Gill.

On the other hand, Punjab Kings made two changes to their starting eleven after a big loss against Rajasthan Royals in their last game. The right-arm fast bowler Xavier Bartlett returned, replacing Lockie Ferguson, while Vijaykumar Vyshak came in for spinner Harpreet Brar. Suryansh Shedge kept his place in the PBKS playing XI against GT, as Shashank Singh missed out on another game due to an injury.

GT vs PBKS playing XIs

Gujarat Titans playing XI (batting first): Shubman Gill (c), Sai Sudharsan, Jos Buttler (wk), Nishant Sindhu, Washington Sundar, Jason Holder, Rashid Khan, Arshad Khan, Kagiso Rabada, Mohammed Siraj, Manav Suthar

GT impact players: Rahul Tewatia, Glenn Phillips, Anuj Rawat, Kumar Kushagra, Kulwant Kejroliya

Punjab Kings playing XI (bowling first): Prabhsimran Singh (wk), Priyansh Arya, Cooper Connolly, Shreyas Iyer (c), Suryansh Shedge, Nehal Wadhera, Marcus Stoinis, Marco Jansen, Xavier Bartlett, Arshdeep Singh, Yuzvendra Chahal

PBKS impact players: Harpreet Brar, Vishnu Vinod, Vijaykumar Vyshak, Musheer Khan, Mitch Owen

Shubman Gill hopes for middle order improvement

After winning the crucial toss, GT skipper Shubman Gill revealed that they are looking for an improved performance from their middle order today.

"We're gonna bowl first," Gill said at the toss. "I think we have been chasing well in the past few games and our bowling has been top-notch, so we thought we'll continue with the momentum. (Middle-order performing in the last game) Yeah, definitely in the last match, we spoke about our middle-order finishing the game and I think our Rahul bhai, batting in the middle, it was magnificent [to] watch and him finishing the game was exactly what we talked about.

Meanwhile, visiting team captain Shreyas Iyer said that Punjab Kings are looking for a quick return to winning ways after seeing their dream run halted by Rajasthan in the last game.

"I feel that it's not frustration, it's just that you have learning in every game. And it's an intense league, honestly speaking," Shreyas Iyer said. "We travel, we have to come up fresh for the next game. So it takes a lot of efforts in the practice session as well. It's just that we haven't been able to execute the way we were supposed to, but it's just another game right now and we will see to it that we put our best foot forward and execute to the best of our abilities."

Also read: Today Cricket News