Three years after being held with restrictions, the Indian Premier League is back to its best in 2023. 10 teams, 12 venues and 70 league stage matches to be held in home and away format again as Gujarat Titans begin their title defence in the high-profile Indian league. Hardik Pandya’s GT face four-time winners Chennai Super Kings at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on March 31. Will it be Titans flying high at home or will MS Dhoni’s men make the most of the occasion? Catch all the updates here.
GT vs CSK, IPL 2023 Highlights: Shubman Gill eclipsed Ruturaj Gaikwad’s high-quality knock with a dazzling half-century as Gujarat Titans began their title defence with a convincing five-wicket win over Chennai Super Kings in the IPL opener here on Friday. Gaikwad was all class in his 92 off 50 balls before Titans pulled things back in the middle overs to limit Chennai Super Kings to 178 for seven after opting to bowl first in front of a near capacity crowd at the world’s largest cricket stadium here. In the form of his life over the past three months, Gill played some jaw-dropping strokes in his 63 off 36 balls to set up a fine win for the home team. Titans got home in 19.2 overs. Gill’s opening partner Wriddhiman Saha showed he has still got it as he smashed a couple of sixes and as many fours in his 16-ball 25 that got the Titans going in the run chase. Gill’s best shot of the innings was the back foot punch off CSK’s impact player Tushar Deshpande and he followed with a pick up shot over midwicket. Titans’ impact player Sai Sudharsan, who was used in place of an injured Kane Williamson, contributed with 22 off 17 balls.
IPL 2023 GT vs CSK Live Score: Rashid Khan is the player of the match
Not Gill or Gaikwad but you shouldn’t be too surprised by that. He recorded figures of 2/26 and scored 10 in three balls which was crucial for taking GT over the line. “So happy to get the Player of the Match. Gives me so much of energy for the rest of the competition. Bowling to the leftie was hard but the more I keep it tight, it is better. I had it in my mind to keep it simple. Just bowl the right areas consistently. Batting is all about time spent in the nets. The kind of opportunity and confidence in me by the coaching staff and the captain does give me a lot of batting time in the nets. It helps me in the middle.”
IPL 2023 Live: Pandya talks
“I am obviously very happy, but we did put ourselves in a difficult position. We were very happy with 178 because at one point they looked like going past 200. But we kept getting wickets. Having the impact rule makes my job very difficult. There are too many options. Because of it, someone will always bowl less or late. My shot and Shubman’s shot put the team in a difficult position. We have some standards inside the dressing room. We have to finish the games, and not Rash and Rahul all the time.”
IPL 2023 Live Updates: Anatomy of a great chase
The only point where it looked like CSK might have taken the initiative was in those two overs after Gill fell but Rashid Khan and Rahul Tewatia just snatched it away from the four-time champions. But the ground work was laid by some brilliant innings up top from Wriddhiman Saha, Shubman Gill and Sai Sudarshan. They ensured that GT’s run rate never really went too far below 10 and when you do that, it becomes very difficult for any team to stop a chase.
IPL 2023 GT vs CSK Live Score: MS Dhoni talks!
“We were slightly short. Another 15-20 runs would have been good. We all know there would be a little bit of dew. Also it was a 7.30pm start so the ball holds on a little early on. Also we could have batted properly in the middle overs as opposed to trying to muscle the ball. Rutu is a pleasure to watch. He has groomed himself very well, and makes the eight decisions under pressure. We can’t afford to bowl no-balls. That is something in our control.”
