Gujarat Titans look to seal playoff berth as Delhi Capitals seek fresh start after IPL suspension

Delhi Capitals (DC) and Gujarat Titans (GT) will reconvene at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in New Delhi on Sunday (May 18) with the objective of picking up where they left off when the IPL came to an abrupt halt. That would apply more to GT than the hosts DC with the Shubman Gill-led franchise top of the standings on 16 points. A win would confirm their spot in the playoffs and condemn DC to their third loss in four matches with no result in between.For all that to happen, though, the rain has to stay clear, which has been a daily occurrence over the past few days. Things do not look promising for Sunday either with bouts of rain expected to curtail the contest.Go Beyond The Boundary with our YouTube channel. SUBSCRIBE NOW!If it is indeed a stop-start contest, it would go in perfect harmony with the IPL this time around. On May 8, the T20 league was halted, practically in the middle of a match (Punjab Kings vs Delhi Capitals in Dharamsala) only to be suspended for a week.Who's that IPL player?Following the ceasefire between India and Pakistan, IPL resumes tonight. Things have changed in the aftermath, though. Players have had to pause and resume and quite a few overseas players have not returned."We are in a situation right now where we would have liked to play games, we had the momentum. But the situation was such that you can't do anything about it. You have to just accept it and move on from there," said Gujarat Titans assistant coach Parthiv Patel on Saturday."We feel that these are the things which are not in your control. So, you don't want to think about it. At the moment, we are playing good cricket and we want to carry on with that," he added.Gujarat Titans, primed to reach the playoffs, are due to be hit significantly by the rescheduled IPL. Jos Buttler and Kagiso Rabada will now be available only till the end of the league stage. Kusal Mendis will replace Buttler from the playoffs."We all have to accept it and find a way out of it. I can't speak for any other team, which players they are losing or how they are going to cope up with it."We are not losing too many players. But we are quite okay with whatever the situation is. And we are quite confident that the players who will come in will step up and perform for us," said Patel on the overseas players challenge.For DC, who were at the heart of the kerfuffle in Dharamsala, the pause possibly came at a good time. They lost to Royal Challengers Bengaluru and Kolkata Knight Riders and then had a washed out contest with Sunrisers Hyderabad. At the Arun Jaitley Stadium the Axar Patel-led franchise has mustered just one win, in a Super Over, while going down thrice."This is our home ground. Unfortunately we have lost a couple of matches here but it is a fresh start. We have had a few days off since the IPL was rescheduled. We will pick up the way we started the campaign," said Vipraj Nigam.After a cracking start, they have been subdued ever since the loss to MI and are due to bring in a change at the top with KL Rahul expected to open the innings. With 13 points and standing at fifth place, playoffs are still within reach.DC, compared to GT, are more affected by the absence of certain overseas players due to the rescheduling. Mitchell Starc, Jake Fraser-McGurk and Donovan Ferreira will not be available. Mustafizur Rahman has been brought in as the replacement for Fraser-McGurk but only for May 18-24. Tristan Stubbs, meanwhile, is available only until the league stage."It is very tough to replace someone like Mitchell Starc. We have made one or two team changes, so basically this is like a start to the season. We will try to not feel the impact of those who are not with the squad anymore. We will try as a team with whatever players we have available," stated Nigam.The 20-year-old spinner acknowledged the efforts of the Indian Army, the government and the franchise to help get the squad back home amid the pause when things were challenging throughout. Nigam, who has taken nine wickets this season, stated that things were far from normal but is pleased to be back on the cricket field.