The day is finally here and we are set to witness the blockbuster opening to the season as Chennai Super Kings and Gujarat Titans get set to battle. The game will witness the defending champions embark on a title hunt as Hardik Pandya is out to cement his captaincy credentials. MS Dhoni on the other hand is embarking on what could be his final season. The 41 year old could bow out on a high if he wins the title for the 5th time.
Venue – Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad
Time – 8:00 PM IST
Likely pitch conditions –
The last time a game was played here was between India and New Zealand and India had won the game by a massive 168 runs. Shubman Gill who is the opener for Gujarat Titans had scored an imperious 126. With the summer setting in, there wont be reason to worry about the dew. The team winning the toss might decide to bat first as the pitch is expected to be a batting beauty
Likely CSK XI –
D. Conway, R. Gaikwad, M. Ali, B. Stokes, S. Dube, R. Jadeja, MS Dhoni, D Chahar, M. Santner, Simarjeet Singh, R. Hangarekar
Likely GT XI –
KS Bharat/W.Saha, S. Gill, K Williamson, H. Pandya, M Wade, O Smith, R Tewatia, R Khan, M Shami, S Mavi and Y Dayal
Head to Head Record
Matches played – 2
Games won by GT – 2
IPL Ground Record
Games played – 18
Games won after batting 1st – 8
Games won after batting 2nd – 10
Games won after winning the toss – 9
Games won after losing the toss - 9
Average 1st innings score – 160
Average run rate - 8
Highest score by a batter – Jos Buttler -106* vs RCB -2022
Best bowling figures – 4/14 by Bhuvneshwar Kumar vs RR -2014
Highest team score -201/6 by RR vs Delhi -2014
Lowest team score -102 by RR vs SRH -2014
Approaching milestones –
For Gujarat Titans –
·Hardik Pandya needs 37 runs to reach 2000 runs in IPL
·Hardik Pandya needs 5 wickets to complete 150 wickets in T20 cricket
·Shubman Gill needs 100 runs to complete 2000 runs in IPL and 3 more sixes to reach the 50 mark in IPL
·Mohammad Shami needs 1 wicket to reach 100 wickets in IPL and he will become the 19th player to achieve this feat
For CSK
·Moeen Ali needs 90 runs to reach 1000 runs in IPL
·Ben Stokes needs 80 runs to reach 1000 runs in IPL