GT vs CSK: Gujarat Titans and Chennai Super Kings square off against each other in the first Qualifier of IPL 2023 at the MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai. GT and CSK both have had some brilliant outings in the season and rightly are the top two teams in the standings. But with a spot in the final up for grabs, only one of them will get a direct entry to the summit clash.
Meanwhile, GT won the toss at Chepauk and made a key change to their team. They dropped Yash Dayal from the team and brought in Darshan Nalkande for him.
Who is Darshan Nalkande?
Darshan Nalkande is a Maharashtra-born right-arm fast bowler, who plays for Vidarbha in the Indian domestic circuit. He has played a couple of games in IPL but this is his first game in the ongoing season. Nalkande made his IPL debut for Gujarat Titans in 2022 and played two games for them last year. His first game was against Punjab Kings and he picked up 2 wickets on IPL debut.
He was then picked for the game against Sunrisers Hyderabad but Nalkande could not pick a wicket there. Nalkande has played a bit domestic cricket for Vidarbha. He has played 3 First class matches, 21 List A games and 34 T20 matches for his domestic side. In all the Maharashtra-born pacer has picked 92 wickets, 57 in T20s, 34 in List A and 1 in First class.
Pandya confirmed Nalkande's inclusion at the toss. "We will be bowling first. We heard dew will come, so we want to know what exactly we have to chase down. We were told to relax after getting into the top-2, but we didn't want, we looked to stay focussed and play good cricket. We are a smart side and we don't play only one way. We look we get the best out of the wicket and have adapted. Darshan Nalkande comes in place of Yash Dayal," Pandya said after winning the toss.
"We were wanting to bowl first too, reason being they're an excellent chasing side. We've exploited the conditions a bit better, in a tournament like this, the boys have adapted really well. It's crucial to back your strengths and 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 when we played here last, but with breeze around, we can't say about it tonight, but the wicket does look dry. We're playing the same side," Dhoni said at toss.
GT's 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
