IPL 2023: Qualifier 1 promises stirring contest between Chennai Super Kings and Gujarat Titans

The clock had just ticked past 10.00 pm, but the sound of the ball flying off the middle of the bat was unrelentingly repetitive. Gujarat Titans were hard at work at the nets at the MA Chidambaram Stadium on Monday night (May 22), hours after landing from Bengaluru after putting Royal Challengers Bangalore out of the Indian Premier League and less than 24 hours before the first playoff showdown (Qualifier 1) of the season.

There is a certain calmness about the Titans that stems from an understated but highly efficient head coach and a one-time stormy petrel who has grown as a leader of men. Ashish Nehra and Hardik Pandya herald the coming together of the opposites, their chemistry one of the driving forces behind the defending champions mounting another stirring campaign.

Also read: CSK’s proud record: 12 playoffs in 14 seasons; what captain MS Dhoni says

On Tuesday night, the Titans’ resolve and their ability to hold their nerve will be severely tested in Qualifier 1, against a rejuvenated Chennai Super Kings outfit where also the captain-coach chemistry is indisputably electric. Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Stephen Fleming have been inextricably linked since the start of the IPL and feed off each other, one of the reasons why the four-time former champions have advanced to the business end 12 times out of their 14 years of existence.

The extraordinarily-gifted Shubman Gill

The seasoned duo will be pushed to the hilt to come up with left-field tactical manoeuvres to arrest the inexorable Gujarat juggernaut, which dominated the league phase and finished with a whopping 10 wins from 14 games. Having eked out timely performances from various quarters with the bat, they have been fuelled in the second half of the tournament by the extraordinarily-gifted Shubman Gill, whose transition from prince to king is well on its way.

Gill’s consistency and his hunger are all too evident, but even in piecing together successive back-to-back hundreds at the very end of the league phase, his orthodoxy and correctness stood out. Reminiscent of the man whose storied mantle he is touted to inherit, Gill has reiterated – like Virat Kohli has been doing for a decade and a half – that for all the innovation that has come to dot the T20 landscape, there is still a definitive place for ‘proper’ cricketing shots, which has made him the darling at once of the connoisseur and the layman alike.

Also read: IPL 2023: Shubman Gill’s ton powers GT into playoffs; SRH eliminated

There is more to Gujarat than just the effervescent Gill, but if Chennai can somehow winkle him out early, the rest of the batting line-up will undoubtedly feel the heat. Vijay Shankar has had his moments and Rahul Tewatia has finished more than one game with a breezy cameo, but neither Pandya nor David Miller, so influential in the title run last year when Gujarat made their tournament debut, has really hit his straps, which will give Chennai a great deal of heart.

CSK’s Sri Lankan potent bowling duo

Chennai’s bowling is competent without being overwhelming, their two key personnel both coming from the tiny island nation to the south of the Tamil Nadu capital. Maheesh Theekshana and Matheesha Pathirana are vastly different bowlers, but the former, him of the carrom ball, and the latter, a slinger in the Lasith Malinga-mould but with a release point even lower than his celebrated Sri Lankan compatriot, have formed a potent duo that works its magic at different stages of the innings. Pathirana especially is a priceless asset at the backend of the innings with his pinpoint yorkers and effortless changes of pace without any discernible change in action, though the onus will be on Tushar Deshpande, one suspects, to nip the Gill storm before it assumes dangerous proportions.

Titans’ Afghan spin twins

Gujarat have their answer to the Maheesh-Matheesha puzzle in the form of their two Afghan spinners, one an acknowledged master who has paraded his wares most successfully in all parts of the world and the other who is growing in stature with every passing fixture. Rashid Khan needs no introduction, the pixie-faced leg-spinner a household name universally; Noor Ahmad, the left-arm wrist-spinner, is in the infancy of what is bound to be a very successful white-ball career and finds himself blessed with the luxury of being able to operate alongside the master and dip into his tremendous acumen.

Rashid has taken the role of big brother to heart, keeping Noor free of nerves, dissipating the tension with a string of jokes in Pashto and essentially providing the perfect base for his younger buddy to express himself. Clearly thriving in such an environment, Noor has more than pulled his weight, offering Pandya an additional attacking spin option in the middle overs which is such a wonderful weapon to possess.

Also read: IPL 2023: Gujarat thrash Rajasthan for biggest win of the season

Rashid began the tournament in a somewhat iffy manner, going at two runs per over more than his career IPL economy which hovers around the 6.7 mark, but like the champion that he is, he has found his best form heading into the climax. He has 24 wickets, alongside teammate Mohammed Shami the highest in the competition; given such incisive resources at their disposal, it’s no surprise that Gujarat fancy their chances of bearding the Chennai lion in their intimidating den.

The irresistible force vs the immovable objects

Once again, Shami will be in sharp focus, his battle against Chennai openers Ruturaj Gaikwad and Devon Conway one of the defining contests of Qualifier 1. Gaikwad and Conway have been Chennai’s engine room while Shami has been unstoppable in the Powerplay. The irresistible force against the immovable objects is as good a starting point as any, because if Shami evicts even one of them early, Chennai will be forced to revisit their approach.

Also read: CSK storm into IPL 2023 playoffs with 77-run win over DC

The Dhoni factor has meant that every one of the seven away games this season, from neighbouring Bengaluru to distant Delhi, has been a home game for Chennai. This is a home match in its truest sense; it could also be Dhoni’s last appearance at Chepauk as an active player (you never really know with him, do you?), another interesting subtext that should lend greater gravitas and lustre to an occasion already iridescent. Like it has been all season, the Chidambaram Stadium will be a buzzing, throbbing, ululating cauldron of noise and positive vibes and crackling electricity. Dhoni, the master strategist, against Pandya, the apprentice who is making waves. The Super Kings vs the Titans. Who are you rooting for?