IPL first qualifier: Gujarat Titans opt to bowl against Chennai Super Kings
GT captain Hardik Pandya, while informing about his decision to bowl first sad that right-arm pacer Darshan Nalkande will play in place of left arm fast bowler Yash Dayal.
Chennai: Defending Champion Gujarat Titans (GT) won the toss and opted to bowl first against Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in the first qualifier of this year’s IPL at MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai.
GT captain Hardik Pandya, while informing about his decision to bowl first sad that right-arm pacer Darshan Nalkande will play in place of left arm fast bowler Yash Dayal.
On the other hand, CSK captain MS Dhoni said that they are playing the same team that played the last match.
This match is very important for both the sides as the winner will go to the final directly while the losers will play another match against the winner of second qualifier on May 26 at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.
“We will bowl first. We heard dew will come, so we want to know what exactly to chase down. We were told to relax after getting into the top-2, but we didn’t want, want to stay focused and play good cricket. We are a smart team, we don’t play only one way, we make sure to get the best out of the wicket and have adapted. Darshan Nalkande comes in place of Yash Dayal,” said Pandya.
Dhoni said, “We wanted to bowl first, reason being they’re an excellent chasing side. We’ve exploited the conditions slightly better, in a tournament like this, the boys have adapted really well. It’s important to back your strengths, the confidence level should be high. They’ve been able to do that and that’s why we have done well. There was a lot of dew in the last game, but with breeze around, we can’t say about it tonight, but it does look dry. We’re playing the same team.”
Teams:
- Gujarat Titans (Playing XI): Shubman Gill, Wriddhiman Saha(w), Hardik Pandya(c), Dasun Shanaka, David Miller, Rahul Tewatia, Rashid Khan, Darshan Nalkande, Mohit Sharma, Noor Ahmad, Mohammed Shami
- Chennai Super Kings (Playing XI): Ruturaj Gaikwad, Devon Conway, Ajinkya Rahane, Ambati Rayudu, Shivam Dube, Moeen Ali, Ravindra Jadeja, MS Dhoni(w/c), Deepak Chahar, Tushar Deshpande, Maheesh Theekshana
Ms Kalinga