Today at the Chepauk Stadium in Chennai a lot is at stake as the two IPL franchises, Chennai Super Kings and Gujarat Titans, will fight for a spot in the final of the Indian Premier League 2023 season. It will be decided today after 40 overs are bowled whether Gujarat will play their second consecutive final or will Chennai play their record 10 th IPL final.
In this article, we will discuss the strategies and tactics of both teams in this Qualifier 1 match. The winner of this match will directly reach the final whereas the loser will play the winner of the Eliminator match between MI and LSG in the Qualifier 2 match.
If we compare both teams, the Gujarat team looks stronger on paper as they have a better and more experienced bowling attack than their opponents. The batting department more or less has the same strength as the openers of both teams are in red-hot form and could play a huge role in the match.
Since CSK has the home advantage, both teams stand equally as of now and the outcome of the match is solely going to depend on how they play today.
Gujarat Titans is a team who chases better but has the bowling attack to defend any score and hence toss might not play a huge role for them. Though their bowlers have been spot-on this whole season, CSK will hesitate to bowl second in a high-pressure match with their inexperienced bowling attack and hence will look to bowl first only.
So, the toss strategy of both teams will be to bowl first and have the target in their sight so that they can plan the chase accordingly.
MSD is a captain who likes spinners very much and hence we will see 1-2 overs from the CSK
spinners in the powerplay, especially on this Chepauk pitch. Hardik might employ Rashid Khan for 1-2 overs in the powerplay but his main weapon will be Shami who can create a lot of damage if the ball is moving even slightly.
The predicted playing 11s for both teams are –
Chennai Super Kings – Ruturaj Gaikwad, Devon Conway, Ajinkya Rahane, Shivam Dube, Moeen Ali, Ravindra Jadeja, M S Dhoni (c, wk), Maheesh Theekshana, Matheesha Pathirana, Deepak Chahar, Tushar Deshpande.
Gujarat Titans – Shubhman Gill, Wriddhiman Saha (wk), Hardik Pandya (c), Vijay Shankar, David Miller, Rahul Tewatia, Rashid Khan, Dasun Shanaka, Noor Ahmad, Mohammed Shami, Mohit Sharma.
