IPL-2024: Chennai Super Kings to face Gujarat Titans in Chennai: GT opt to bowl
Chennai Super kings will lock horns with Gujarat Titans at M A Chidambaram stadium at Chennai today. The match will start at 7.30 pm. Gujarat Titans have won the toss and have opted to field.
MS Dhoni’s words after CSK made it to their 10th final last season through the first qualifier against Gujarat Titans summed up the team’s ability to weaponize their home conditions. CSK are only one of the few teams capable of doing that, and yet that has been a bit of a lottery. CSK lost three home games in 2023, including one on a true surface on which they scored 200 batting first. The slowness in the surface that has often helped Dhoni box the opposition in with spin has appeared and vanished on a whim.
The nature of the surface this early in the season might not concern Gujarat Titans though. They come with a heady dose of adrenaline coursing through them from downing Mumbai Indians in an extremely close home fixture just one night ago after what transpired between the two in the off-season. The heist – with some tight middle-overs and death bowling, reestablished the fact that Titans continue to be the sum of their parts.
Should Chepauk revert to type on Tuesday, Mohit Sharma’s variations will be handy. Mohit has featured in 14 previous IPL fixtures at the venue, picking 18 wickets, with an economy rate of 7.25. Left-arm spinner R Sai Kishore, who got a wet ball to grip and dip in dewy conditions in Ahmedabad – will also be relied upon by GT as they take him back to his domestic home turf. Against MI, GT demonstrated their ability to not get thrown off course by the pressures of a six or two in a tight defence of their total. CSK with their ability to field at least 10 players capable of successfully swinging for the fences will be a sterner test of their resolve.
Squads:
Chennai Super Kings Squad: Ruturaj Gaikwad(c), Rachin Ravindra, Ajinkya Rahane, Daryl Mitchell, Shivam Dube, Ravindra Jadeja, Sameer Rizvi, MS Dhoni(w), Deepak Chahar, Maheesh Theekshana, Mustafizur Rahman, Tushar Deshpande, Shardul Thakur, Shaik Rasheed, Moeen Ali, Nishant Sindhu, Mitchell Santner, Ajay Jadav Mandal, Prashant Solanki, Mukesh Choudhary, Simarjeet Singh, RS Hangargekar, Aravelly Avanish
Gujarat Titans Squad: Wriddhiman Saha(w), Shubman Gill(c), Sai Sudharsan, Azmatullah Omarzai, David Miller, Vijay Shankar, Rahul Tewatia, Rashid Khan, Umesh Yadav, Ravisrinivasan Sai Kishore, Spencer Johnson, Mohit Sharma, Sharath BR, Abhinav Manohar, Noor Ahmad, Manav Suthar, Matthew Wade, Kane Williamson, Shahrukh Khan, Joshua Little, Darshan Nalkande, Kartik Tyagi, Sushant Mishra, Sandeep Warrier, Jayant Yadav
