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- Published: March 31, 2023 17:15
New Delhi: MS Dhoni-led Chennai Super Kings and the defending champions Gujarat Titans will open the IPL 2023. With changes in rules and teams back to their home grounds, this time the IPL is going to be more exciting than ever. The first game will be a clash between mentor MS Dhoni and mentee Hardik Pandya as the latter will look to add another win against CSK in his pocket.
Titans have in-form Shubman Gill with last year’s great performer Wriddhiman Saha to open and the likes of Kane Williamson, David Miller, Hardik Pandya and Rahul Tewatia to follow. In the bowling department, they have India’s ace pacer Mohammed Shami along with Rashid Khan and domestic stars R Sai Kishore and Yash Dayal.
On the other hand, Super Kings have a formidable batting line-up with Ruturaj Gaikwad and Devon Conway to open and Moeen Ali and Ben Stokes to follow. They have Dhoni, Ravindra Jadeja and Deepak Chahar to bat down the order and will pose a problem to GT’s fine attack. While Mukesh Chaudhary and Kyle Jamieson being ruled out was a big blow to their bowling but they still have great international players to take a lead.
When and where to watch?
The CSK vs GT game will be played from 7:30 pm onwards at the Narendra Modi Stadium. The toss will take place at 7:00 pm and as per the new rules, the playing XIs will be named after the toss.
The match will be streamed for free on Jio Cinema and will be telecasted on Star Sports Network.
Prediction
A neck-to-neck fight is expected from both teams as Dhoni and Pandya are two great minds taking risks in captaincy. Dhoni and Pandya using the Impact Player rule will set the precedent for the rest of the tournament. It will be a match of CSK’s batting with GT’s bowling while a lot will depend on use of the new rules.
The Titans have won the last two games against CSK and will definetly have a home advantage today.