28 May,2023 09:21 AM IST | Ahmedabad | mid-day online correspondent
Hardik Pandya, MS Dhoni (Pic: AFP)
'Thala' MS Dhoni wouldn't mind a âFarewell to Remember' but a young Shubman Gill, oozing grace, would do everything under his control to prevent Chennai Super Kings from beating Gujarat Titans to its fifth IPL title on Sunday. Nearly 19 summers back when a young Dhoni was making his first strides in India blue, a four-year-old Gill was taking stance on a vast farmland in Punjab's Fazilka village on Pakistan border, with a handmade customised bat, prepared by his doting grandfather.
On Sunday, the soon-to-be 42 Dhoni will have one last assignment in his favourite Canary Yellow jersey, to stop Indian cricket's megastar-in-waiting and do a âHigh Five'.
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Three hundreds and 851 runs don't happen in every season but on a batting belter at the Motera, what will be Dhoni's strategy to rein in the âMohali Marauder'? Will it be Deepak Chahar's swing or Ravindra Jadeja's wicket-to-wicket bowling? Or will it be Moeen Ali, who could be the âJoker in the Pack' with his enticing flighted deliveries outside the off-stump which could sharply break back. A technically near-perfect batter against a captain known for thinking out of the box. It can't get more exciting than this. His die-hard fans might expect him to come back again next year but even Dhoni, who has played the entire season with a heavily strapped left knee might find it extremely difficult to keep up with the demands of the shortest format.
Also Read: IPL Final: CSK or GT, who will have the last laugh at Motera? What do stats say?
No team has emulated the structural and team building ethos of Chennai Super Kings as minutely as Gujarat Titans, another team, where cricketing decisions are based on sound logic, consistency and no interference from overbearing owners. There is a skipper in Pandya, who believes that there is only one way to lead the team. It's called âThe Mahi Way'. Batters win matches but bowlers win tournaments is an old saying and it couldn't be more apt when one tracks Titans' performance. Mohammed Shami (28 wickets), Rashid Khan (27 wickets) and Mohit Sharma (24 wickets) have executed plans more often than not and thus it has not really affected the Titans that second highest run-scorer after Gill's 851 runs is skipper Hardik Pandya (325), who is more than 500 runs behind.
Date & Time: May 28, 2023, 7:30 PM IST
Venue: Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad
Live Streaming: Jio Cinema
Wicketkeeper:Devon Conway (vc)
Batters:Shubman Gill (c), Ruturaj Gaikwad, Shivam Dube, B. Sai Sudharsan
All-rounders: Ravindra Jadeja, Hardik Pandya
Bowlers: Mohammad Shami, Rashid Khan, Deepak Chahar, Matheesha Pathirana
Gujarat Titans: Wriddhiman Saha (wk), Shubman Gill, Hardik Pandya (c), David Miller, B. Sai Sudharsan, Vijay Shankar, Rahul Tewatia, Rashid Khan, Mohammad Shami, Noor Ahmad, Mohit Sharma
Chennai Super Kings: Ruturaj Gaikwad, Devon Conway, Shivam Dube, Ajinkya Rahane, Ambati Rayudu, Moeen Ali, MS Dhoni (c) (wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Tushar Deshpande, Deepak Chahar, Maheesh Theekshana
Gujarat Titans: Hardik Pandya (c), Shubman Gill, David Miller, Abhinav Manohar, B. 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, Dasun Shanaka, 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, Matheesha Pathirana, Simarjeet Singh, Deepak Chahar, Prashant Solanki, Maheesh Theekshana, Ajinkya Rahane, Ben Stokes, Shaik Rasheed, Nishant Sindhu, Sisanda Magala, Ajay Mandal, Bhagath Varma, Akash Singh
The GT vs CSK IPL 2023 Final is scheduled for 7:30 PM IST and will be aired live on television in India via Sports18 Network. The Eliminator will be live-streamed in India through Jio Cinema. Also, follow the live score and the latest updates at https://www.mid-day.com/.
