Big picture: Dhoni vs Hardik, one more time
IPL 2023 has come full circle. The season started with Hardik Pandya’s Gujarat Titans taking on MS Dhoni’s Chennai Super Kings in Ahmedabad. In the final on Sunday, the two teams will once again be face-to-face at the same venue.
Moreover, CSK have lost all three games they have played in Ahmedabad so far. This is the only venue in the IPL where they have played at least three games and are yet to register a win. Titans, meanwhile, have six wins in nine outings here.
Having said that, CSK will be looking to embellish their already fabulous record; they are the second-most successful team in the tournament’s history. One more trophy and they will draw level with Mumbai Indians with five. On the other side, Titans will be keen to establish their dominance. They surprised everyone by emerging as champions in their debut season. They will be focused on making it two in two.
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Apart from this being a battle between two sides built around the same philosophy – of keeping things simple, backing their players, and creating a relaxed team environment – there is the sub-plot of Hardik, the protégé, looking to trump Dhoni, the mentor.
Sunday’s game will be Dhoni’s 11th IPL final (his tenth with CSK); no player has featured in more. Hardik has been a part of five before 2023; he has never finished on the losing side. Hardik has always said he has learnt a lot, not just about cricket but also life, from Dhoni. Sunday evening will be a test of all that he has learnt over the years.
Form guide
Gujarat Titans WLWWL (last five matches, most recent first)
Chennai Super Kings WWLWW
Team news: No injury concerns
Coming into Qualifier 2 against Mumbai Indians, Hardik had not bowled in the previous four matches. With him having rolled his arm over against Mumbai, there are no known injury concerns in either camp.
Impact Player strategy: Sticking to the template
Both teams are expected to be unchanged. One of Shubman Gill and Josh Little will be Titans’ Impact Player, depending on whether they are bowling first or batting. For CSK, Shivam Dube and Matheesha Pathirana are likely to be in similar roles.
Gujarat Titans (probable XII): 1 Shubman Gill, 2 Wriddhiman Saha (wk), 3 Sai Sudharsan, 4 Hardik Pandya (capt), 5 Vijay Shankar, 6 David Miller, 7 Rashid Khan, 8 Rahul Tewatia, 9 Noor Ahmed, 10 Mohit Sharma, 11 Mohammed Shami, 12 Josh Little
Chennai Super Kings (probable XII): 1 Ruturaj Gaikwad, 2 Devon Conway, 3 Shivam Dube, 4 Ajinkya Rahane, 5 Moeen Ali, 6 Ambati Rayudu, 7 Ravindra Jadeja, 8 MS Dhoni (capt, wk), 9 Deepak Chahar, 10 Tushar Deshpande, 11 Maheesh Theekshana, 12 Matheesha Pathirana
Stats that matter: Shami vs CSK openers
- Mohammed Shami has a favourable match-up against Devon Conway and Ruturaj Gaikwad. He has dismissed Conway three times in three innings, with the batter managing just five runs across 12 balls. Gaikwad has never fallen to Shami but has scored at a strike rate of just 69.69 (46 off 66 balls) against him. Moreover, Shami has a great record in Ahmedabad this season: 17 wickets in eight games at an economy of 6.77.
- Rashid Khan’s T20 numbers against Ruturaj Gaikwad and Ambati Rayudu are not that impressive. Gaikwad has struck at 147.36 (84 off 57) against him, albeit while falling to him twice in six encounters. While Rayudu’s strike rate is much lower (124.65), Rashid has managed to dismiss him only once in 73 deliveries.
- Titans can counter Rayudu with Mohit Sharma. The seamer has dismissed him six times in 44 balls for just 54 runs. Dhoni, meanwhile, has scored 48 off 24 balls against Mohit for two dismissals.
- Ravindra Jadeja bowled David Miller for 4 in Qualifier 1 but overall, Miller has an excellent record against him: 121 runs at a strike rate of 168.05 for two dismissals. Jadeja has never dismissed Gill either in T20 cricket; the batter has scored 68 off 48 against him at a strike rate of 141.66.
- Maheesh Theekshana has been more penetrative in away games this IPL. In Chennai, he has picked up just three wickets in seven games. At away venues, he has eight wickets from five outings.
- Gill needs 123 runs to break Virat Kohli’s record of most runs in an IPL season.
- Shami (28), Rashid (27) and Mohit (24) are the top three wicket-takers this IPL. Shami, in fact, is five wickets away from breaking Dwanye Bravo and Harshal Patel’s record of most wickets in a single season.
Pitch and conditions: Win the toss and bat?
The weather is expected to be cloudy but there is no serious rain threat.
The big question
Will Gujarat Titans win their second successive IPL title?
1.7K votes
Yes, they have home advantage as well
No, CSK will stop them
Quotes
“We are realistic about how difficult it is to get to this stage. That’s why we are proud of our record of being consistent over a period of time. We have been able to put performances together under pressure when we have been in form or out of form or when we have got new players. The greatest challenge of this competition is when you get a new team that’s going really well and you have got to disband and you can only keep four players. The fact that we have been able to stay consistent with those rules in place is something we look back very proudly on.”
CSK head coach Stephen Fleming
Hemant Brar is a sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo
Source: ESPN Crickinfo