Chennai Super Kings will try to wipe away the demons of the last IPL season with the 2023 edition that kicks off with their match against defending champions Gujarat Titans at the Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad on March 31. A lot of drama took place last year in the CSK camp as MS Dhoni passed the captaincy baton to Ravindra Jadeja ahead of the season. Midway through IPL 2022, Jadeja relinquished the post only to see Dhoni coming back in the role. The captaincy fiasco added by poor performance of the team saw the four-time champions finish at the second-last spot in the table with only 4 wins from 14 matches.
Speculations are rife that this will be the last season of Dhoni. Anyway, the 'captain cool' would look to guide his side to a record-equaling fifth IPL title. But, a small injury issue on the eve of the incident saw question marks being raised over Dhoni's availability. According to the franchise's CEO, the 'Thala' will be available for the opener.
The franchise bought star England all-rounder Ben Stokes at a whopping sum of INR 16.25 crore and he will have the responsibility to be the X-factor of the squad. Meanwhile, star CSK pacer Deepak Chahar, who was ruled out due to a back injury last season, is back in the team to bolster the bowling, which looked weak in the 2022 edition.
The side would look to stick to the tried and tested opening pair of Devon Conway and Ruturaj Gaikwad, while all-rounders Shivam Dube, Moeen Ali and Jadeja would be aiming to provide the side the much-needed balance despite missing star Caribbean all-rounder Dwayne Bravo, who called time on his IPL career in December last year.
Notably, Mukesh Choudhary has been ruled out of the entire season. Rajasthan Royals pacer Akash Singh has been named as his replacement.
Chennai Super Kings Predicted Playing XI vs Gujarat Titans:
Devon Conway, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Ben Stokes, Ambati Rayudu, Shivam Dube, Moeen Ali, MS Dhoni (C), Ravindra Jadeja, Deepak Chahar, Maheesh Theekshana, Simarjeet Singh.