CHENNAI: If there is one IPL venue which Gujarat Titans can call home away from home, it is the MA Chidambaram Stadium, given the strong Tamil Nadu influence in their squad.
The Titans playing pack comprises five TN members, who know the Chepauk pitches like the back of their palms.
The TN group’s ‘local’ knowledge will be worth its weight in gold when GT cross swords with reigning champions Chennai Super Kings in a repeat of last year’s final, on Tuesday.
The beauty of franchise cricket is such that the visiting Titans side will consist of five ‘locals’, while Super Kings, the only IPL team from the state, have none from the region.
After featuring in the thrilling victory over Mumbai Indians in Ahmedabad on Sunday, B Sai Sudharsan, Vijay Shankar and R Sai Kishore are set to retain their places. Middle-order hitter Shahrukh Khan and Mohammed Shami’s last-minute replacement Sandeep Warrier are waiting in the wings.
During the course of GT’s win against MI, southpaw Sai Sudharsan held their innings together with a ‘Man of the Match’ performance and left-arm spinner Sai Kishore checked the run-flow in the middle overs with his miserly spell. Add to that the wicket of Rohit Sharma which started tilting the balance in GT’s favour.
CSK head coach Stephen Fleming acknowledged that familiarity factor of the Tamil Nadu boys could increase Titans’ chances of success.
“It (local knowledge) could help. Definitely, for a few of the players, it will be a home game, in terms of conditions. But, yeah, it is hard to say,” Fleming said.
Shubman Gill’s GT, without an iota of doubt, will bank on their TN stars, but CSK will fancy themselves at a venue where they have taught many a visiting team harsh lessons over the years.
The Ruturaj Gaikwad-led Super Kings will stick to their tried-and-tested template, as was the case in the comfortable win over Royal Challengers Bengaluru in the tournament opener.
What will be a welcome boost is the fact that their new foreign recruits Rachin Ravindra and Mustafizur Rahman – initially brought in as cover for Devon Conway and Matheesha Pathirana respectively – have adapted to life at CSK in no time.
Considering the way Ravindra creamed the ball in the powerplay and left-arm pacer Mustafizur bamboozled the RCB batters, it looked as though the duo had played all their lives in Chennai.
Pathirana available for selection
In more good news for CSK, slinger Pathirana has been declared fit for the GT game and poses a selection headache for the Super Kings think-tank.
The Sri Lankan joined the CSK camp on Saturday, after being sidelined with a hamstring injury that he suffered while on international duty. “It is a good headache. Yes, he (Pathirana) is available for selection,” Fleming said.
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