Table-toppers Gujarat Titans (GT) face off against ninth-place Chennai Super Kings (CSK) as they look to consolidate their spot on the points table in the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) season in Mumbai on Sunday (April 17).
In a blow to the Titans, their skipper Hardik Pandya, whose heroics helped GT to a confident win over the Rajasthan Royals (RR) in their last match, is set to miss out. In his place, Rashid Khan will be the team's captain. GT have also handed debuts to bowler Alzarri Joseph and wicketkeeper-batter Wriddhiman Saha.
"Bit of stiffness in the groin area for Hardik, so as a team we didn't want to take a chance. He will rest and hopefully be back for the next game," Rashid said while explaining the all-rounder's absence. "Super excited, it's kind of a dream. So I just want to learn as much as I can and give 100 per cent. Matthew Wade is out and Saha is in. It's just to balance it out as Hardik is absent."
Meanwhile, the Super Kings finally ended their losing streak with an excellent batting performance against the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in their previous outing, with Robin Uthappa hitting a 50-ball 88 and Shivam Dube smashing an unbeaten 95 off 46 balls. They return to this match with the same XI as they look for consistency in their season.
"We would have bowled first as well. Now we will look to put a good score on the board and put pressure on them. After the last game we had a day off and back to basics with the training and stuff," CSK skipper Ravindra Jadeja said at the toss.
Chennai Super Kings' Playing XI
Robin Uthappa, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Moeen Ali, Ambati Rayudu, Shivam Dube, Ravindra Jadeja (c), MS Dhoni (w), Dwayne Bravo, Chris Jordan, Maheesh Theekshana, Mukesh Choudhary
Gujarat Titans' Playing XI
Wriddhiman Saha (w), Shubman Gill, Vijay Shankar, David Miller, Abhinav Manohar, Rahul Tewatia, Rashid Khan (c), Alzarri Joseph, Lockie Ferguson, Yash Dayal, Mohammed Shami
