Hardik Pandya’s Gujarat Titans will host MS Dhoni’s Chennai Super Kings for the IPL 2023 opening match, on Friday, March 31, at the Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad.
It is the same venue where the Gujarat Titans defeated the Rajasthan Royals in the IPL 2022 final, winning the IPL trophy in their debut season itself.
Speaking of the venue, there was plenty of rain on Thursday evening, about 24 hours before the game, a video of Gujarat Titans head coach Ashish Nehra went viral in which Nehra is enjoying the rain at the Narendra Modi stadium.
The showers on the eve of the match in Ahmedabad have left the fans concerned, not only about getting a shortened game, but also about whether a game would be possible at all on Friday.
GT vs CSK: Pitch report and weather conditions for Match 1 IPL 2023 at Narendra Modi stadium:
About the pitch at the Narendra Modi stadium, Ahmedabad, the pitch here aids fast bowlers and batsmen. Hardik Pandya took a 3-fer in last year’s IPL final here with his hit-the-deck bowling; in the IND-NZ T20I earlier this year, Shubman Gill clattered a century before Pandya took a 4-wicket haul while the other 3 Indian pacers in the match took two wickets each.
Basically, the pitch at the Narendra Modi stadium is batting-friendly with decent amount of help for pacers.
Talking about the conditions, although it rained on the evening a day before the match, for Friday, the weather in Ahmedabad is clear and we should have a full game.
Player availability for GT vs CSK Match 1 of IPL 2023:
Both the teams will be missing a few key players – Maheesh Theekshana, Matheesha Pathirana, Sisanda Magala of CSK and David Miller, Josh Little of GT will miss the first match due to national duties. CSK are also without pacer Mukesh Choudhary, who is down because of an injury and is likely to miss the entire season.
IPL 2023 Match 1 GT vs CSK Predicted XI:
CSK predicted XI:
Devon Conway, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Moeen Ali, Ben Stokes, Ambati Rayudu, Ravindra Jadeja, Shivam Dube, MS Dhoni (c,wk), Dwaine Pretorius, Deepak Chahar, Simarjeet Singh
GT predicted XI:
Shubman Gill, Wriddhiman Saha(wk), Kane Williamson, Hardik Pandya, Matthew Wade, Rahul Tewatia, Rashid Khan, Alzarri Joseph, Shivam Mavi, Mohammed Shami
