Gujarat Titans captain Hardik Pandya won the toss and opted to field against Chennai Super Kings in the first Qualifier of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 match at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai on Tuesday.

The league stage is done and dusted, the business end is here. Gujarat Titans take on the Chennai Super Kings at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Qualifier 1 with a place in the final at stake. Chennai Super Kings, the four-time champions, turn up at their home ground, where they get fervent support. MS Dhoni and his troops picked up eight wins in the league stages, five of which came at Chepauk.

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GT has one change on their side, Darshan Nalkande replaced Yash Dayal while CSK are playing with the same team.

GT skipper Hardik Pandya said after the toss, “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 focussed 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.”

During the Toss, CSK captain MS 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 the breeze around, we can’t say about it tonight, but it does look dry. We’re playing the same team.”

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.