The inaugural IPL season will be kicked off in Ahmedabad in front of a capacity crowd of Chennai Super Kings fans and Gujarat Titans fans, two teams that have specialised in proving themselves year after year. MS Dhoni in the radiant yellow corner; in the navy blue one, Hardik Pandya, who seems to have followed Dhoni’s path to captaincy and batting.

GT vs. CSK, IPL 2023

You never know with Dhoni, but this could very well be his last IPL season. On the other hand, Hardik could become India’s next full-time white-ball captain if he wins the title. The Super Kings will play five of their first eight games away from home, but an intra-squad practise session that was open to the public just an hour before the start at Chepauk is a sign of things to come at home. They had the second-worst economy rate at the end of the last season, with 11.29; however, they didn’t exactly cure that at the closeout.
As for the Titans, their main problem last season was not having a reliable anchor. They tried B. Sai Sudharsan and Vijay Shankar in that role, but they have now brought in Kane Williamson, whose elbow is much better than it was last year. Williamson’s presence may allow Hardik to float down the order rather than up, as he did frequently during the IPL. The Titans’ bowling attack also meets most requirements, and the addition of Shivam Mavi and Josh Little, the first Irish players selected in the IPL, further strengthens them.

Possible starting XI

Gujarat Titans

1 Shubman Gill, 2 Wriddhiman Saha (wk), 3 Kane Williamson, 4 Matthew Wade, 5 Hardik Pandya, 6 Rahul Tewatia, and 7 Rashid Khan, 8 Shivam Mavi, 9 Jayant Yadav/R Sai Kishore 10 Alzarri Joseph, 11 Mohammed Sham

Chennai Super Kings

1 Ruturaj Gaikwad, 2 Devon Conway, 3 Ben Stokes, 4 Moeen Ali, and 5 Ambati Rayudu 6 Ravindra Jadeja, 7 Shivam Dube, 8: MS Dhoni (capt, wk), 9: Mitchell Santner, 10: Deepak Chahar, 11: Simarjeet Singh/Tushar Deshpande