A lot has changed for the two teams since last year’s IPL final when Chennai Super Kings (CSK) got one more than Gujarat Titans (GT) to win the title to now when they meet again here at the M.A Chidambaram Stadium on Tuesday.
The teams are now led by two young captains who have taken over the mantle from their seniors this season. While MS Dhoni has handed over his CSK captaincy to 27-year-old Ruturaj Gaikwad, GT has found a new leader in 24-year-old Shubman Gill after Hardik Pandya’s move to Mumbai Indians.
Both have begun their captaincy era with a win. While Gaikwad finished on the right side of the southern derby against Royal Challengers Bengaluru in this year’s opener at home, Gill outwitted his predecessor Pandya’s Mumbai Indians.
Though it is still early days for both Gaikwad and Gill to blend completely into the role, both captains looked in control of the proceedings. Be it Gaikwad’s field placements or Gill nailing his bowling changes, they both knew what they were doing.
CSK’s way of dotting it up
When Gaikwad faced an early challenge - RCB being 33/0 - three overs into his captaincy, he instantly brought in mystery spinner Maheesh Theekshana for damage control - indicating that switch in captaincy hasn’t changed Super Kings’ tactics.
Gaikwad relied on spinners and Mustafizur Rahman, who specialises in change of pace, to do the holding job. And it worked with RCB losing five wickets in the next nine overs as CSK bowled 23 dot balls and gave away just three boundaries.
Shivam Dube too being used as an impact sub made it clear that the think tank isn’t trying to do anything new, at least for now.
CSK though would be mindful of Tushar Deshpande and Deepak Chahar’s outings, especially in the PowerPlay. With both seamers clocking speeds in mid-130s range, maybe it isn’t the best idea to make use of the two-bouncer rule in the first six overs. If they do want to explore the option, perhaps one of Simarjeet Singh or Rajvardhan Hangargekar could be brought in.
Titans’ way of using resources
Gujarat Titans captain Shubman Gill during the IPL 2024 match against Mumbai Indians at Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on Sunday. | Photo Credit: VIJAY SONEJI / The Hindu.
MI needed 62 runs in the last eight overs with eight wickets in hand. Gill bowled five overs by R Sai Kishore, Rashid Khan, and Mohit Sharma – three of his best defensive options and the only bowlers who completed their four-over quota. GT ended up winning by six runs while picking up seven wickets in the remaining time.
One of the remarkable things about the Titans in the last two years has been their usage of resources and on Sunday, they demonstrated it again.
With a batting lineup made for run accumulation with Gill, Sai Sudharsan, and Wriddhiman Saha at the top and power hitters like Rahul Tewatia and David Miller at the end, Titans are fairly organised to go above par and defend what’s there.
What’s in store?
It will be a battle of two equals.
Both CSK and GT are similar in how they operate with a deep batting lineup and the bowlers cherry picked for their defensive skills which makes this encounter interesting.
Add to it, the memories of last season’s dramatic final, GT’s 3-2 win record vs CSK, and Gaikwad and Gill being at the centre of things.
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