Four-time winners Chennai Super Kings (CSK) lock horns with defending champions Gujarat Titans (GT) as Hardik Pandya won the toss and elected to bowl first in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 opener at the Narendra Modi Stadium on Friday (March 31).
Hardik handed debut cap to Ireland's star Joshua Little while Dhoni kept all-rounders-laden playing XI for CSK.
B Sai Sudharsan, Jayant Yadav, Mohit Sharma, Abhinav Manohar and KS Bharat have been kept as GT's substitutes who will vie for impact player spot. Meanwhile, CSK have Tushar Deshpande, Subhranshu Senapati, Shaik Rasheed, Ajinkya Rahane, Nishant Sindhu as their substitues out of which only one will feature as impact players.
“Were also looking to bowl. Looks a good wicket and I don't think it will change. Don't know if there will be dew because it rained last night. You want to play in front of people. This stadium is twice the capacity of other stadiums. Fantastic atmohsphere. Preparation was good. We assembled quite early. It's a luxury to have (impact player). It becomes slightly easy to take the decision because you can use it at any time. Influence of allrounder has become slightly less because of the rule,” CSK captain MS Dhoni said.
“We'll bowl first. It's always good to play here. New start, new season, quite exciting. Almost everyone in the country has got motivation from him (Dhoni). Been a fan and admirer of him. Want boys to enjoy it. Result will take care of itself. It's different - I've left it in the coach. Ashu pa works all night on what needs to be done,” GT skipper Hardik said after the toss.
Head-to-Head
Matches: 2
CSK won: 0
GT won: 2
Last result: GT won by seven wickets (Wankhede; May 2022)
Know CSK vs GT's live score updates here
Pitch report:
"Looks like a belter of a wicket, there's a bit of grass covering on it, the surface is nice and hard. It has some good pace and bounce in it. The new ball might nip around a bit, so the opening batters will have a little bit of work cut out. The square boundaries are comparatively shorter as compared to the straighter ones. A great cricket surface and the outfield looks magnificent. The batters need to put up a good score on the board," Simon Doull analysed the pitch.
Gujarat Titans (Playing XI): Wriddhiman Saha(w), Shubman Gill, Kane Williamson, Hardik Pandya(c), Vijay Shankar, Rahul Tewatia, Rashid Khan, Mohammed Shami, Joshua Little, Yash Dayal, Alzarri Joseph.
Subs: B Sai Sudharsan, Jayant Yadav, Mohit Sharma, Abhinav Manohar, KS Bharat
Chennai Super Kings (Playing XI): Devon Conway, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Moeen Ali, Ben Stokes, Ambati Rayudu, Shivam Dube, Ravindra Jadeja, MS Dhoni(w/c), Mitchell Santner, Deepak Chahar, Rajvardhan Hangargekar.
Subs: Tushar Deshpande, Subhranshu Senapati, Shaik Rasheed, Ajinkya Rahane, Nishant Sindhu.
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