GT captain Hardik Pandya, who won the toss and opted to bowl against CSK, said that Dhoni has been an inspiration and motivation for nearly everyone in India.
Hardik Pandya has made no secret of his deep respect for MS Dhoni. He has repeatedly talked about how much of an impact Dhoni had on his development as a player and captain. On Friday, during the opening toss of the Indian Premier League 2023, the captain of the GT made it clear how much Dhoni means to him.
Hardik Pandya, captain of the winning GT team, said Dhoni has been an inspiration and motivation for almost everyone in India after choosing to bowl first after winning the toss against the Chennai Super Kings.
After speculation that he would miss the GT match with a knee injury, Dhoni surprised everyone by taking the pitch for the first time since the IPL finals last year at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad. Dhoni will get to play in front of his home crowd in Chennai during what is widely considered to be his season, thanks to the IPL’s return to its home-and-away format for the 16th edition.
“I don’t think it [the pitch] will change. Last night it rained and I don’t know if there will be dew. The preparation has been good and we assembled early [in Chennai]. Overall, it seems as if we’ve done okay,” Dhoni said.
With the introduction of the Impact Player rule in IPL 2023, teams will be able to field 12 players instead of 11, which many believe will add a new dimension to Twenty20 cricket.
Dhoni has expressed concern that the all-value arounder’s may be diminished by the Impact Player rule. “Having this is a luxury (Impact Player). Having access to it whenever you need it makes the choice a little less daunting. Because of the rule, generalists no longer carry as much sway as they once did.”
However, Hardik Pandya claimed that the bulk of the work would now fall to Ashish Nehra, the team’s head coach.
“It’s always good to play here. New start, new season, quite exciting. Want boys to enjoy it. Result will take care of itself. It’s different – I’ve left it in the coach. Ashu pa works all night on what needs to be done. I don’t know (combination for today),” said the captain of the defending champions.
CSK XI: 1 Devon Conway, 2 Ruturaj Gaikwad, 3 Moeen Ali, 4 Ben Stokes, 5 Ravindra Jadeja, 6 Shivam Dube, 7 Ambati Rayudu, 8 MS Dhoni (capt&wk), 9 Mitch Santner, 10 Deepak Chahar, 11 Rajvardhan Hangargekar
Subs (Possible Impact Player): Tushar Deshpande, Subhranshu Senapati, Shaik Rasheed, Ajinkya Rahane, Nishant Sindhu
GT XI: 1 Shubhman Gill, 2 Wriddhiman Saha (wk), 3 Kane Williamson, 4 Vijay Shankar, 5 Hardik Pandya (capt), 6 Rahul Tewatia, 7 Rashid Khan, 8 Mohammed Shami, 9 Josh Little, 10 Alzarri Joseph, 11 Yash Dayal
Subs (Possible Impact Player): B Sai Sudharsan, Jayant Yadav, Mohit Sharma, Abhinav Manohar, KS Bharat
