MATCH 1: Toss: GT chose to field. CSK: 178/7. GT: 182/5 (19.2/20). Gujarat Titans win by 5 wickets.
Overview
Gujarat Titans, the defending champions, hosted the Chennai Super Kings in an electrifying season opener at the Narendra Modi Stadium with over 1 lakh fans in attendance. This season brings the home-away format back after a 3-year sabbatical due to the Pandemic. Chennai and Dhoni began their campaign by batting first. The Super Kings made 178 runs in 20 overs courtesy of some late fireworks by MSD. In response, Gujarat chased it down with 4 balls remaining. How well did CSK play? How well did GT play? What have we learned from the first match? We’ll talk about these questions and more.
Gaikwad Goes Ballistic
2021 Orange Cap Winner and champion, Ruturaj Gaikwad had an off-season last year. After having a fantastic domestic campaign this year, Gaikwad went ballistic in the season opener to score 92 runs in 50 deliveries with 9 sixes and 4 boundaries. How he began batting was nothing but glorious. He took on Hardik in the second over and scored two boundaries. One was a beautiful mid-wicket punch. And the other boundary was probably one of the most pleasing cover drives I’ve ever seen. Ruturaj Gaikwad oozes class, and this knock had class written all over it in big bold gold letters.
I will never get tired of watching him lift sixes over fine leg. He is probably the best in the league right now in smashing sixes over fine leg. He welcomed Josh Little by hitting a six and four on the first two balls of his IPL career. It is safe to say that Rutu carried CSK’s batting. If not for him, CSK would’ve struggled to go over 150. He looked a notch above everyone else and hit sixes for fun. Now, remember, Ahmedabad is a big ground, with big boundaries, but he made Ahmedabad look like Chinnaswamy while he batted.
Scoring 92 at a strike rate of 184 in the first match is insane. No one knows how the pitch is going to behave, no one knows how the ball is going to grip, but the ease with which he scored runs was a direct reflection of his skills. In my opinion, he deserved that century, but a controversial no-ball call not going his way cost him his wicket. Nevertheless, he will be proud of the way he has begun this season. With this knock, he has convinced the selectors to pick him for the T20I side, and maybe try him out at no. 4 in ODIs while Shreyas is injured.
Batting Depth ≠ Batting Success
CSK’s greatest strength this season is their batting depth. They have solid batsmen till number 9. MSD will come in at number 8 more often than not. But, this doesn't guarantee batting success. Except for Ruturaj Gaikwad and a 23 by Moeen, no one else contributed anything meaningful. The middle order failed to capitalize on the start and slowed down in the middle overs, this allowed Gujarat to creep back into the game and despite a good 20th over, Chennai fell 15-20 runs short.
But, this doesn’t concern me as it is just the first match. Moeen Ali and Ben Stokes will come good sooner or later and win games. My problem is with the number 4 spot. CSK can’t rely on Shivam Dube to get them important runs. Yes, he might come good in a match or two but you need to have a proper batsman batting there. Dube’s game is power-based, meaning against good bowling and on difficult pitches, he will struggle to get going. The one-off six won’t help them. I am not sure who they can play in place of Dube, but I am sure MS has groomed a player who can play at number 4.
One more thing to consider, MS should consider batting up the order when the situation demands. We all know how good he is. If he can bat at number 6, he can really accelerate the run rate in the middle overs, doesn’t matter if he can only bat for 15-20 balls, but if he gets 35-45 runs there, it’ll massively benefit CSK, it streamlines the rest of the innings and players can come and smash deliveries from ball one.
MSD's Last Over Heroics
Joseph catches Jadeja’s miss-hit, and the Narendra Modi Stadium roars, 1 Lakh fans are on their feet as the Thalaiva - Mahendra Singh Dhoni walks in to bat after 315 days. He goes into the final over with 2 runs of 2 balls. Boom! MS smacks a big six through square leg and Gujarat’s home suddenly turns into a sea of yellow as everyone celebrates the master’s brilliance.
Dhoni finishes the last over in a very Dhoni-Esq way. Chennai gets 13 runs in the 20th over courtesy of the greatest finisher of the modern era. CSK get to 178, Hardik is happy because CSK looked like getting to a 200+ score when Gaikwad was batting.
Gill Carries His Dream Run Into the IPL
Shubman Gill continued where he left off last season, getting a brilliant 63 of 36 deliveries. He attacked all bowlers but took down Tushar Deshpande and Ravindra Jadeja. Gill is one of the most beautiful players in the world right now. He is technically fluent and all of his shots are just sweet cracking hits. Watching Shubman Gill bat makes you fall in love with cricket all over again. One shot that stood out was his first boundary, a cracking cross-batted punch through mid-wicket.
The way he handled spin was especially brilliant. He used his feet to create shots out of decent deliveries. In some deliveries he stepped out and hit the ball over the covers, in others he played a backfoot square punch to get a boundary through point. His leg-side exhibition too was impressive. He hit some phenomenal sixes through long-on. Gill has evolved into a complete player over the year, his stroke plays, his power, his timing, and his shot selection are unmatched. It is extremely difficult to dismiss him because of his flawless technique. Now, this was a relatively easy pitch to bat on, but his batting was glorious.
The IPL has taken Indian Cricket to a higher level, and watching two young Indian batsmen being a notch above the rest in the first match of this season was pleasing. If both of these batsmen take this form into the rest of the tournament, they make their sides strong contenders for a playoff spot.
Gujarat Titans - Takeaways
Gujarat Titans have followed the same philosophy that made them the 2022 champions. They’re a ridiculously well-balanced team. On any given day, any one of their players can win the games. Gujarat doesn’t rely on any one player to go big, they have 11 match winners, 12 now with the impact player rule. This is their biggest strength and it was on display yesterday. Shami, Rashid, and Joseph all took key wickets. Gill gave them a platform to chase the target down, and Rashid finished the job with a four and a six. Many players didn’t contribute towards the win, but they will in another match.
If they can find a way to keep winning important matches and especially find success on the road, they will be strong title contenders. I know it is too early to say this after the first match, but this is giving me the same feeling last season did.
Chennai Super Kings - Takeaways
CSK have now lost all three of their first matches in the last three years. In 2021, they were champions, in 2022, they were at the bottom of the table. So, does this defeat mean anything? Yes and no. This loss exposed some holes in the team which they need to figure out a way to fill if they want to be title contenders. But we also can’t take too much away from the first game, we need to give them a chance to show what they can do over the next 3-4 games.
CSK needs to figure out its bowling options. You cannot have Moeen Ali and Ben Stokes on the team if you’re not going to bowl them. MS said in the post-match interview that because of the combination, he didn’t feel it was the right match to bowl Moeen, which is fine. But they can’t just have the 5 bowlers bowling every match. This weakens their team. Their bowling is in complete contrast to their batting, as they don’t have any depth. If they want to succeed, they need to find a way to optimize their bowling lineup and find a couple more bowling options.
Comments