We are on the final day of the mega carnival. It ends where it started almost 2 months ago with precisely the same teams. Hosts and the holders take on the might of CSK in the biggest cricket stadium in the world in terms of capacity. This game might be the last for MSD. Don't be surprised if there are more supporters turning up for CSK at Gujarat's home ground. It is because of one man. A certain Mahendra Singh Dhoni.
Chennai Super Kings: After finishing at the bottom half of the table last season, CSK has made a remarkable comeback this season. MSD has rolled back the years to wave his magic wand and pull a rabbit out of the hat thanks to his captaincy. Be it promoting Rahane at 3, making Pathirana bowl 4 at the death, or even unleashing Dube against spinners to accelerate the scoring. This might be MSD's last game and we all would want to see his magic one more time against the defending Champions.
Gujarat Titans: Gujarat have surprised everyone for 2 seasons in a row now. They came into existence just last year and since then have managed to win it last year and finish at the top of the table this year too. They have done it without Aussies, English, or Kiwi players. Their bowling attack has 2 Afghanistan players, one Irish and a West Indian player. They have a certain Mohit Sharma who was previously unsold in auctions and bowled in the nets for Gujarat last year. Hardik Pandya is a street-smart captain who knows how to get the best out of his team.
Players to watch out for;
Shivam Dube:
If Dhoni has to find answers to negate the quality of spin that the Titans have then Dube is the man. He has long levers which can disrupt the momentum of any spinner in the world. How effective he might be against Noor and Rashid remains to be seen but he will play a vital role in CSK's resurgence in the middle overs.
Shubman Gill.
Prince is in the form of his life for the last 18 months and has been scoring everywhere and against everyone. It is almost difficult to stop Gill if he gets going. After a point of time you just sit back and admire his strokes. Such is d class and the measure of the man. If Dhoni has to stop a rampant Gill, he has to come up with something special and not allow Gill to get into his groove. Rcb and MI have already been at the receiving end of Gill's masterclass.
Chennai's probable playing 11: Ruturaj Gaikwad, Devon Conway, Ajinkya Rahane, Moeen Ali, Shivam Dube, Ravindra Jadeja, MS Dhoni, Deepak Chahar, Maheesh Theekshana, Matheesha Pathirana, Tushar Deshpande
(Impact player: Ambati Rayudu)
Gujarat's probable playing 11: Shubman Gill, Wriddhiman Saha, Sai Sudarshan, Hardik Pandya, David Miller, Rahul Tewatia, Rashid Khan, Mohammad Shami, Noor Ahmad, Mohit Sharma, Josh Little
(Impact player: Vijay Shankar)
Interesting stats and facts:
- MS Dhoni will become the first player to have played 250 IPL games.
- MS Dhoni will also become the first player to appear in the 11th IPL final.
- MS Dhoni needs 1 four to complete his 350 IPL fours
- Hardik Pandya needs 2 wickets to complete his 150 T20 wickets.
- Ravindra Jadeja needs 2 sixes to complete his 100 IPL sixes.
- Mohammad Shami needs 2 wickets to complete 50 wickets for Gujarat Titans.
- Devon Conway is five-fours away from completing his 100 IPL fours.
- Mohit Sharma will be playing his 100th IPL game tonight.
Weather and Pitch report: The weather is expected to be clear and hot throughout the day, we should have a full game without any intervention. Meanwhile, the pitch has certainly been batting-friendly, we should expect another high-scoring game. The team winning the toss may prefer to bat first unless there's a dew factor, pitch might slightly get slower in the second half which means that batting first will have a huge advantage.
Date & Time: 28 May 2023, 7.30 PM (IST)
Venue: Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad.
Live Streaming: Star Sports network and JioCinema.
Dream 11 Team
