Shubman Gill won the toss at Chepauk and, despite a red-hot afternoon and an “excessive heat” advisory, immediately asked Chennai Super Kings to bat first. The Gujarat Titans skipper clearly fancies knowing a target rather than second-guessing what might be a par score on a surface that usually slows down as the sun bites.
The pitch, rolled twice this morning, already shows a patchy, almost biscuit-coloured look, so everyone expects the spinners to come into the contest quickly. Rashid Khan will not be complaining; neither, one suspects, will Akeal Hosein or Noor Ahmad.
“We might just ‘play around’ with the Impact Player,” CSK coach Stephen Fleming said, hinting at a bit of mid-innings manoeuvring. True to that line, Chennai have swapped Sarfaraz Khan out and handed a debut to keeper-batter Urvil Patel. Ramakrishna Ghosh, listed among the substitutes, had a good 30-metre sprint measuring his run-up before the toss – he could still appear later if conditions suit his left-arm seam.
Gujarat have made only one alteration, a straight swap: the tall left-arm quick Arshad Khan comes in for Prasidh Krishna, who is not even in today’s Impact list. It lengthens the batting ever so slightly and, more importantly, provides another power-play bowler should the new ball swing.
Gill was relaxed about fielding first in the heat, smiling that “the breeze generally picks up here once you get past 5pm”. Ruturaj Gaikwad, his opposite number, did not seem fussed either. The CSK captain knows he has been short of runs but pointed out that he has “been getting starts” and feels a big one is close. On a track where 160 can look mountainous, that might be all his side needs.
Playing XIs
Gujarat Titans: Shubman Gill (capt), Sai Sudharsan, Jos Buttler (wk), Shahrukh Khan, Washington Sundar, Jason Holder, Rashid Khan, Arshad Khan, Kagiso Rabada, Mohammed Siraj, Manav Suthar.
Impact options: Glenn Phillips, Anuj Rawat, Kulwant Khejroliya, Nishant Sindhu, Rahul Tewatia.
Chennai Super Kings: Sanju Samson (wk), Ruturaj Gaikwad (capt), Urvil Patel, Dewald Brevis, Shivam Dube, Kartik Sharma, Jamie Overton, Akeal Hosein, Noor Ahmad, Anshul Kamboj, Gurjapneet Singh.
Impact options: Sarfaraz Khan, Mukesh Choudhary, Prashant Veer, Ramakrishna Ghosh, Matt Short.
With temperatures nudging 40°C, much may come down to who manages their resources – and their fluids – better. A first-innings score around 150 has proved defendable here in the past fortnight, but, as ever, the chasing side will fancy things if dew turns up. Either way, the heat is on from ball one.
