CHENNAI: Another home game for Chennai Super Kings and once again, a sea of yellow have embraced the MA Chidambaram Stadium on Tuesday as Gujarat Titans won the toss and opted to field first on Tuesday.
In what is a repeat of the 2023 finals, the two heavyweights come up against each other for the first time since the summit clash.
Despite the familiarity of the contest, there is a lot to look forward to as this contest will be about two young captains — Ruturaj Gaikwad and Shubman Gill. Gaikwad, filling in the shoes of arguably the greatest captain this country has seen in MS Dhoni, has started off with a clinical win against Royal Challengers Bengaluru.
Gill, on the other hand, was promoted after Hardik Pandya left the franchise and began his captaincy stint with a sweet victory against his predecessor in Ahmedabad.”That match was very physically and mentally exhausting,” said Gill at the toss before adding, “Quick turnaround, but we are are used to it. It was a tremendous feeling to be able to be down in the game and then come back. It showed the character of our team. We are going with the same team.”
Gaikwad, meanwhile, said that he wanted to bowl as well. “Wicket is similar to what we had in the first game. Batting first here is not much difference. I would say, slightly rusty start but we came back well. And once we came back we did not allow them to be back. Everyone showed good intent. In place of Theeskahana, we have our Malinga, Pathirana,” he said.
Rated highly in the cricketing fraternity, both Gill and Gaikwad will be looking to carve out an identity for themselves as captains and leaders this season. In an internal contest between the two, who will out on top? We will know in a few hours…
Playing XI:
CSK: Gaikwad (capt), Ravindra, Rahane, Mitchell, Dube, Jadeja, Rizvi, Dhoni (wk), Chahar, Deshpande, Rahman.
Impact Player: Pathirana.
Titans: Saha (wk), Gill (capt), Omarzai, Miller, Vijay Shankar, Tewatia, Rashid, R Sai Kishore, Umesh Yadav, Mohit, Spencer Johnson.
Impact player: Sai Sudharsan.
