TATA IPL FINALS 2023 Preview

The stage is set for the TATA IPL Finals after 73 matches played in 11 cities by 10 teams. The four times champions CSK will face defending champions Gujarat Titans at their fortress- Narendra Modi Stadium. After a cracker season, the finals shouldn't disappoint either.  

Probable Lineups: 

CSK: Ruturaj Gaikwad, Devon Conway, Ajinkya Rahane, Ambati Rayudu, Shivam Dube, Moeen Ali, Ravindra Jadeja, MS Dhoni (wk/c), Deepak Chahar, Tushar Deshpande, Maheesh Theekshana

GT: Shubman Gill, Wriddhiman Saha (wk), Vijay Shankar, Hardik Pandya (c), David Miller, Rahul Tewatia, Dasun Shanaka, Mohit Sharma, Rashid Khan, Mohammed Shami, Noor Ahmad

This will be the first finals with the impact player rule, so keep an eye on the impact players, especially Pathirana of CSK. 

Road To Finals 

CSK: CSK have won 3 out of their last 5 matches losing one and the other being abandoned. CSK have won 8 out of their 14 games, sitting in 2nd position due to better NRR than the Lucknow SuperGiants who were equal with 17 points. CSK defeated the Titans in Qualifier 1 to reach the finals of the TATA IPL 2023. This is the 10th time CSK are in the finals having won 4.

GT: GT have won 3 out of their last 5 matches losing just one. GT has won 11 out of their 16 games, and sat comfortably in 1st position with 20 points. GT lost to Super Kings in Qualifier 1 and crushed Mumbai Indians in Qualifier 2 after posting a mammoth score of 234. GT have made two consecutive finals.

Team Form:

CSK: The openers of CSK- Conway and Ruturaj are in hot form along with the likes of Shivam Dube and Rahane in the middle order. Jadeja and Dhoni are always there to take care of the dead overs, such is the depth of CSK's batting. 

In bowling, Tushar Deshpande- the leading wicket-taker for CSK has the support of Pathirana who is in red-hot form. Other bowlers too stepped up like Deepak Chahar, Theeksena, and Jadeja to make the opposition team's batting stumble. 

The track will be a challenge and CSK should look to bat first and defend the total.

GT: The opener of GT - Shubham Gill is in fiery form, scoring 3 centuries this season, one in the last match against Mumbai Indians. The bowling of Gujarat is arguably the best in the league with Shami on 28, Rashid on 27 and Mohit Sharma on 24 - coming fresh off the 5 wickets spell against the Indians.

The conditions of the pitch will be advantageous for the Titans.

Pitch Report: 

The pitch will be batting friendly but as overs go on the pitch will become slower and stickier which will be a headache for batsmen in second innings but profitable for the spinners and cutters. Winning the toss and batting first is what either Gujarat and CSK should do.  

It remains to be seen if Dhoni's last dance ends up with him lifting the trophy yet again or will the Titans say "Aava Dey" to the Super Kings?