IPL 2023: 3 Key Match-ups To Watch-Out in GT VS CSK Match No.1

The biggest T20 extravaganza is just around the corner. The IPL 2023 will feature some of the biggest white-ball stars in the world. This tournament will kickstart with Hardik Pandya’s Gujarat Titans (GT), the defending champions taking on MS Dhoni’s Chennai Super Kings (CSK), the four-time winners in the first match of the cash-rich league at the iconic Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.

Talking about the defending champions, they played some excellent cricket in the preceding season and won the silverware. Titans decided to retain most of their players from last season and now they look like a perfectly-balanced side who look set to embark on a journey to defend their IPL title.

CSK is a team known for trusting their players and backing them. The tradition has been followed for a number of years and this year, it’s going to be no different. The addition of Ben Stokes certainly has increased their all-rounders’ stocks. With many all-rounders at CSK’s disposal, the four-time IPL winners will be one of the top contenders to lift the IPL trophy.

With a number of big names on both sides, we can expect a fierce contest between the players from both sides. Both teams will come out blazing on all cylinders and raring to go in the tournament opener. So, let’s take a look at three individual player battles between the two sides that could well affect the outcome of game one of IPL 2023.

Here Are the Top 3 Key Player Battles for GT VS CSK Game:

3) Shubman Gill vs Deepak Chahar 

Shubman Gill is the Gujarat Titans opening batter who scored 483 Runs in 16 Matches with an average of 34 in the last year’s IPL. His recent performances with the bat in hand are very impressive as you might have seen. Opening the batting he will be up against CSK’s bowling spearhead Deepak Chahar, who missed out on the last season due to injury. Chahar has a good track record against Gill in the IPL. In the six innings face-off, the swing bowler dismissed the Gujarat batter twice. This battle in the powerplay overs will set the game up.

2) Ravindra Jadeja vs Hardik Pandya

Two of the best all-rounders in the country right now. Jadeja and Pandya are two of the fiercest competitors on the field, who’ll give it all to win games for their teams. Since taking the reins of Gujarat, Hardik has promoted himself up the order, batting at 3,4, or 5. MS Dhoni generally uses Jadeja in the middle overs. It is highly likely that both players will come face to face once again. Pandya likes to take on the spinners, especially the left-arm spinners. On the other hand, Jadeja has the happy knack of picking wickets of right-handed batters. Jadeja, the bowler, will challenge Pandya, the batter, and this will be one battle to keep an eye on. So far, Jadeja has dismissed Pandya only once in three innings. 

1) Ruturaj Gaikwad vs Mohammad Shami

Shami revived his white-ball career with some stellar performances in the IPL 2022. He bagged 20 wickets in 16 matches at an economy rate of 8.00 runs per over to help his team win the title. His progress has been terrific and is a very difficult customer to take on. Ruturaj Gaikwad, CSK’s opener, will have a huge task in hand facing Gujarat’s lead bowler- Shami. Gaikwad didn’t have the best of seasons last year but this year he will be looking to change things around.

In the opening game of GT vs CSK, Gaikwad will come against Shami and this battle will be very important in the context of the game. As far as the numbers are concerned, Shami is yet to dismiss Gaikwad but has managed to keep a check on the scoring rate. The highest run scorer of IPL 2021 has a poor strike rate of under 100, which makes the battle even stevens.