Chennai crowd is going to get another opportunity to see their hero performing at their home ground and I assure you that the Chidambaram Stadium is going to be one really noisy ground. Chennai are up against defending
champions Gujarat and both these teams would want to be the first to make it to the final. Although, if they fail to do so, they would have another opportunity by playing against the winner of Lucknow and Mumbai.
Could this be the last game of Dhoni ever played in Chennai? This is the question that has been lasting through the season and with MS Dhoni, hitting autographed tennis balls in the crowd for fans and appreciating them. MSD has been really focused on looking to win this season and if that happens, he could very well look to call it off on a high this season. Experts have also suggested that, if he wins this year, he would play another season for the fans.
What exactly would MSD do is something that can not be defined and doubt that there would be a person who would know about it. He is known for walking away quietly without making any noise and that has been his speciality. Although, from the fan’s perspective, they would want the maximum of him.
GT VS CSK AT CHENNAI
TEAM INFO – Gujarat are obviously the defending champions and they have also been one of the best teams of the season this year in the league phase, but this is going to be one of the bigger challenges while they try to break the fortress of Chennai. Chennai are going to be facing the twin edged sword on their spin friendly track. Gujarat are equipped with the quality Afghani spin duo of Rashid Khan and Noor Ahmad. In simple terms, it’s a battle between the batting of Gujarat and the bowling of Chennai, if Gujarat can stand tall against that then this could very well be their game.
PREVIOUS ENCOUNTER – Both these teams clashed in the first game of this year’s edition in a cracker of a match. Although that match was played in Ahmedabad, which is the home ground of Gujarat Titans and they are a very strong side there. On the back of Ruturaj Gaikwad’s blistering 92, Chennai managed to put on 178/7 in 20 overs batting first. Chasing 179 to win, Shubman Gill anchored the innings with a 63, while Saha, Sudarshan and
Shankar scored 20s to comfortably chase the target with 5 wickets and 4 balls to spare.
Head-to-Head - Played - 3; Won by GT - 3; Won by CSK – 0
CSK possible 12 – R Gaikwad, D Conway, A Rahane, A Rayudu, S Dube, M Ali, R Jadeja, M S Dhoni, D Chahar, T Deshpande, M Theekshana, M Pathirana
GT possible 12 – S Gill, W Saha, H Pandya, D Shanaka, D Miller, R Tewatia, R Khan, M Sharma, N Ahmad, M Shami, Y Dayal, V Shankar
Pitch & Weather Report – The MA Chidambaram Stadium is the home ground of Chennai Super King and it is also called as the unbreachable fortress of CSK. The pitch is ideally trusted to support the spinners and stroke
making becomes tougher as the innings progresses. Although, the small boundaries will provide results to even half of a well-connected short as well.
The temperature is expected to hover between 29 to 36 degrees and as the evening progresses, batting could get easier with dew coming into play. Teams winning the toss could very well chose to bowl first.
Match Prediction – This is the match which both these teams would like to win and then take a relaxation break till the other teams fight it out for the final. Both have been the best teams of the tournament and they would like
to go with the winning momentum to the finale. Expect this to be a cracker of a match, with both the teams having quality spin on their side. Toss could very well be a factor and team chasing would have a little advantage. All said and done, I feel that this is the year for MSD and his leadership has been exceptional and CSK should win this one comfortably at home. So Chennai would be looking to greet the Gujarati’s with the 'Mulligatawny Soup'.
Oman Observer is now on the WhatsApp channel. Click here
