India, April 8 -- Gujarat Titans cannot afford to treat Sameer Rizvi as just another in-form middle-order batter. He has become one of the key reasons Delhi Capitals have looked more stable than their batting structure actually suggests. Rizvi is not only scoring runs. He is changing the shape of innings. He has shown he can walk into pressure, absorb it, and then turn the tempo sharply in Delhi's favour. That is what makes him such an important wicket in this contest.

For GT, the challenge is not simply to get him out. It is to stop him from reaching the phase where he usually takes control.

The available data makes that pattern clear. Rizvi has built his returns around acceleration through the middle overs and sharp finishing once he ...