The first game of the IPL 2023 will be played on Friday, March 31st, at 19:30 PM local time, between the reigning champions Gujarat Titans (GT) and the former four-time winners Chennai Super Kings (CSK) at the majestic Narendra Modi Cricket Stadium in Ahmedabad.
Gujarat overcame Chennai twice in the group stages last season, powered by Hardik Pandya. While the Gujarat squad appears to be the better team on paper, Chennai isn’t far behind, with a strong squad of their own. Gujarat’s hopes will be boosted by the introduction of former New Zealand Test captain Kane Williamson, whereas CSK will gain from the addition of two-time World Cup champion with England Ben Stokes in the middle order.
Bowlers will have some early purchases given the nature of the Ahmedabad surface, which hosted the last Test of the Border-Gavaskar series in March. True bounce, on the other hand, would help batters as almost 100,000 spectators are scheduled to attend the first game of the 16th edition of the Indian Premier League. Also, the addition of a few new regulations, such as the impact player rule and captains being able to finalize their playing XI after the toss, will add a new depth to the game
Both sides will want to come down hard on each other, knowing how vital it is to start well, especially in a competition like this. Given that Chennai has some injury problems, with the latest rumors indicating that regular skipper and veteran MS Dhoni is also set to miss the game owing to a niggle in his left knee, they will be slightly under pressure.
Prediction for the Match
The defending champions will start as favorites, having defeated Chennai twice in their previous two matches last year. Gujarat will have an advantage over their opponents since they have the number one T20I bowler in Rashid Khan, an exciting new skipper in Hardik Pandya, and a batter-in-form in Shubman Gill. The addition of certain match-winners with the ball in hand, such as Mohammed Shami, Ireland’s Joshua Little, and the Windies’ Alzarri Joseph, would help them even more.
Here are the full squads for both teams –
Gujarat Titans: Hardik Pandya (c), Shubman Gill, David Miller, Abhinav Manohar, Sai Sudharsan, Wriddhiman Saha, Matthew Wade, Rashid Khan, Rahul Tewatia, Vijay Shankar, Mohammed Shami, Alzarri Joseph, Yash Dayal, Pradeep Sangwan, Darshan Nalkande, Jayant Yadav, R. Sai Kishore, Noor Ahmad, Kane Williamson, Odean Smith, KS Bharat, Shivam Mavi, Urvil Patel, Joshua Little, Mohit Sharma
Chennai Super Kings: MS Dhoni (c), Devon Conway, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Ambati Rayudu, Subhranshu Senapati, Moeen Ali, Shivam Dube, Rajvardhan Hangargekar, Dwaine Pretorius, Mitchell Santner, Ravindra Jadeja, Tushar Deshpande, Mukesh Chowdhary, Matheesha Pathirana, Simarjeet Singh, Deepak Chahar, Prashant Solanki, Maheesh Theekshana, Ajinkya Rahane, Ben Stokes, Shaik Rasheed, Nishant Sindhu, Sisanda Magala, Ajay Mandal, Bhagath Varma