Shubman Sizzles As Gujarat Titans Begin IPL Title Defence In Style

Shubman Gill eclipsed Ruturaj Gaikwad's high-quality knock with a dazzling half-century as Gujarat Titans began their title defence with a convincing five-wicket win over Chennai Super Kings in the IPL opener in Ahmedabad on Friday. Gaikwad was all class in his 92 off 50 balls before Titans pulled things back in the middle overs to limit Chennai Super Kings to 178 for seven after opting to bowl first in front of a near capacity crowd at the world's largest cricket stadium. In the form of his life over the past three months, Gill played some jaw-dropping strokes in his 63 off 36 balls to set up a fine win for the home team. Titans got home in 19.2 overs.

Gill's opening partner Wriddhiman Saha showed he has still got it as he smashed a couple of sixes and as many fours in his 16-ball 25 that got the Titans going in the run chase.

Gill's best shot of the innings was the back foot punch off CSK's impact player Tushar Deshpande and he followed with a pick up shot over midwicket. Titans' impact player Sai Sudharsan, who was used in place of an injured Kane Williamson, contributed with 22 off 17 balls.

When Gill departed, Titans needed 41 off the last five overs but CSK managed to take the game down to the wire.

It needed a cameo from Rashid Khan (10 not out off 3) to settled the nerves in the Titans dressing room.

Earlier, it was a display of effortless hitting from Gaikwad, who relied on his lofted drives over extra cover and crisp pull shots to collect as many as nine sixes.

Apart from Gaikwad, the only other batter who put the Titans under pressure was Moeen Ali who came up with a 17-ball 23. Ali's flat six off Mohammad Shami on a free-hit ball was the highlight of his cameo.

Gaikwad pulled IPL debutant Joshua Little on his very first ball to set the tone of his innings. That over went for 15 runs and with Shami conceding 17 runs in the following over, CSK got the momentum they were looking for.

Titans' trump card Rashid Khan was introduced in the powerplay and as he often does, he got the wicket that his team was looking for by getting the dangerous looking Ali caught behind.

Rashid's second over saw him getting rid of England Test captain Ben Stokes, who too was caught by wicketkeeper Saha, leaving CSK at 70 for three.

However, the fall of wickets did not make Gaikwad change his game as he kept getting the boundaries. He welcomed Alzarri Joseph into the attack by smashing him for three sixes in the eighth over.

Titans did well to stem the flow of runs in the middle overs and got the wicket of Ambati Rayudu.

Shivam Dube struggled to find the big hits and that put pressure on Gaikwad who was caught in the deep in the 17th over and missed out on a deserving hundred.

Skipper M S Dhoni came out to bat at number eight but still managed to make an impact as he pulled Little for a six before flicking him for a four in the final over, sending the crowd into a frenzy.

Williamson injured his knee while fielding at the boundary and limped off the field.

The last five overs yielded 45 runs for CSK.

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Rashid Khan Overtakes Wanindu Hasaranga To Reclaim No. 1 T20I Bowler's Spot

Afghanistan's milestone victory against Pakistan echoed throughout the world of cricket. It was the first time Afghanistan had beaten Pakistan in a bilateral T20I series and star spinner Rashid Khan was the main beneficiary as he overtook Sri Lankan spinner Wanindu Hasaranga to again become the top ranked T20I bowler in the world once again. The right-arm bowler collected a wicket in each of the three matches against Pakistan in Sharjah, with his miserly economy rate in both of Afghanistan's victories during the first two games of the series being a standout.

Rashid's teammate Fazalhaq Farooqi was the standout pacer during the series with a total of five wickets and an economy rate of just 4.75 and the left-armer shot up an eye-catching 12 spots to third overall in the latest rankings update.

It means Afghanistan now have three players inside the top 10 of the T20I category for bowlers, with spinner Mujeeb Ur Rahman, part of the talented trio, at the eighth spot following his four wickets for the series against Pakistan.

While regular Pakistan skipper Babar Azam was rested for the series and he dropped one place to fourth in the T20I batter rankings, stand-in skipper Shadab Khan impressed and was duly rewarded on the latest rankings update.

Shadab improved eight spots to fourth on the T20I all-rounder rankings and jumped six places to 12th overall on the list for bowers, while teammate Mohammad Wasim shot up nine spots to 23rd in the same category.

West Indies' series victory over South Africa saw a host of their players jump up the T20I rankings list, with beanpole quick Alzarri Joseph improving 17 spots to 33rd overall for bowlers and teammate Johnson Charles jumping a whopping 92 places to 17th for batters.

South Africa duo Rilee Rossouw (up two spots to sixth) and Reeza Hendricks (up eight places to 12th) also made good ground on the T20I rankings for batters in what was a high-scoring and entertaining series.

There was some movement on the ODI charts this week too, following the completion of Australia's series away from home in India and Zimbabwe's series with the Netherlands.

Australia spinner Adam Zampa jumped three places to sixth overall on the list for ODI bowlers, while Zimbabwe veteran Sikandar Raza improved one spot to fifth in the all-rounder category.

India opener Shubman Gill rose to a career-high rating of 738 points in fifth place on the list for ODI batters, with skipper Rohit Sharma jumping one spot to eighth overall in the same category.

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Why Bajaj Finance Share Price Is Falling

Shares of Bajaj Finance fell for the second consecutive session this week, leaving investors jittery in a volatile market. 

With the ongoing correction, the market cap of Bajaj Finance has slipped by 90 billion (bn) to Rs 3.3 trillion (tn) in a matter of ten days.

The stock has faced similar declines in the past too. In 2022, Bajaj Finance demonstrated a subpar performance for the first time in 14 years.

The word on the street is that the stock could be in for a major correction and the worst is yet to come.

At the time, we covered a detailed editorial on the stock - Bajaj Finance: death at a funeral.

Bajaj Finance shares are now again stuck with another blow.

Here is why the company's share price is falling.

#1 Increasing competition in home loan market

Bajaj Finance is encountering several difficulties in expanding its operations due to stiff competition in the home loan sector. 

The firm commands a significant market share in MSME/personal loans among NBFCs, where banks are increasingly challenging their dominance.

Its deceleration in growth is primarily attributable to its large size and intensifying competition. Notably, the firm has already achieved an impressive 23% compound annual growth rate (CAGR), which remains unmatched by any other Indian bank, non-banking financial company (NBFC), or housing finance company (HFC) over the last few decades.

Additionally, Bajaj Finance holds a significant market share of 45% in the NBFC segment's commercial/personal loans, with rising competition from banks. 

The cost of funds is likely to be 2.5% higher than large banks which makes it uncompetitive. Growth in home loans for Bajaj Finance is expected to negatively impact RoA (Return on Asset) /RoE (Return on Equity) due to low NIM.

#2 Asset growth to slow down

As an NBFC, scaling up adequate liabilities is likely to be challenging due to regulatory limits on deposit mobilization and capital providers' exposure to NBFCs.

Furthermore, the narrowing of growth differentials has caused a decline in valuations due to the faster loan growth at banks and other NBFC stocks fueled by strong sector tailwinds.

Further, it faces hurdles in accelerating its retail liabilities growth as it lacks access to low-cost CASA (current account and savings account) deposit.

Additionally, if interest rates continue to rise it may negatively impact Bajaj Finance's margins as it may not be able to pass on the additional rate hikes due to the steep interest rate hike observed in the past ten months. 

How Bajaj Finance shares have performed recently

Bajaj Finance shares have declined by more than 8% in a month. Over the past week, the company's shares are trading lower by 2%.

On a YTD basis, Bajaj Finance share price is down 14%.

Bajaj Finance touched its 52-week high of Rs 7,778 on 22 September 2022 while it touched a 52-week low of Rs 5,220 on 17 June 2022.

   

About Bajaj Finance

Bajaj Finance is a deposit-taking non-banking finance company (NBFC) with a diversified loan portfolio and a pan-India presence.

While the company was originally set up to provide finance for the purchase of two-wheelers and three-wheelers manufactured by Bajaj Auto, it diversified into other segments over the years.

Currently, it operates across seven broad categories - consumer lending, mortgages, commercial lending, rural lending, SME lending, deposits, and partnerships & services.

Under partnerships & services, the company offers products like health insurance, extended warranty, comprehensive asset care, co-branded credit cards and wallets.

Disclaimer: This article is for information purposes only. It is not a stock recommendation and should not be treated as such.

This article is syndicated from Equitymaster.com

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

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