“Choose one between Santner and Ghazanfar”

Former Indian pacer Zaheer Khan urged the Mumbai Indians (MI) to decide between their overseas spinners, Mitchell Santner and Allah Ghazanfar, for the upcoming IPL 2026 clash against the Gujarat Titans (GT) in Ahmedabad on April 20. While the former has played two games, the latter has played three, including their last outing against the Punjab Kings (PBKS).

Zaheer also advised MI to replace Ryan Rickelton with fellow South African Corbin Bosch to enhance the pace-bowling department. The five-time champions are placed at the bottom of the standings, with four losses in five matches.

Talking about MI and the changes the side could ponder, Zaheer told Cricbuzz (27:38):

“Corbin Bosch will replace Ryan Rickleton. They will have to choose one between Santner and Ghazanfar. Quinton de Kock can open with Naman Dhir (assuming Rohit Sharma doesn’t play). With GT’s overdependence on the top three, MI could consider bowling Bumrah three in the powerplay.”

He added:

“They will give it their all, and they are going to be fired up. Far too many games have been lost after winning the first. They can’t be accepting their place in the points table at this stage with the team they have on paper. Some senior pros need to put their hand up.”

MI surprisingly broke their opening-game jinx and won the season opener this year, but have lost their next four outings.

Zaheer Khan goes with the captains as X-factors for GT-MI clash

Zaheer Khan believes the captains of both GT and MI, Shubman Gill and Hardik Pandya, will be the X-factors in the upcoming clash. Gill has been in exceptional form with the bat this season, scoring 251 runs at an average of almost 63 and a strike rate of 154.93 in four innings.

As a result, GT has won its last three games after starting the campaign with back-to-back losses.

On the other hand, Hardik has been up and down with bat and ball, averaging 27 at a strike rate of 158.82 in the former and 67 at an economy of over 11 in the latter.