The Cricketer takes a look at the next fixture in the 2022 Indian Premier League season
Chennai Super Kings take on Gujarat Titans in the Indian Premier League
The match will be played Sunday, May 15 with play starting at 3.30pm local time (11am GMT).
The teams will face off at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.
Gujarat Titans cemented their place in the play-offs and favourites status going into the latter stages with an impressive 62-run victory over Lucknow Super Giants last time out. A 62* from Shubman Gill and 4 for 24 from Rashid Khan helped dominate the second-best side in the competition as LSG were bundled out for 82.
Chennai Super Kings have been consistent in their inconsistency this season. Their last five matches read: loss, win, loss, win, loss. While CSK's batters are coming into some form – most notably newly-appointed skipper MS Dhoni, Devon Conway and Ruturaj Gaikwad – their bowling has been a problem.
Ravindra Jadeja and Mukesh Choudhary have not done well this season while mystery spinner Maheesh Theekshana, much-touted to be a successful overseas player, has had his moments but been inconsistent.
This is the first of the dead-rubbers at the end of this year’s competition – Gujarat have already qualified with two games to spare, while CSK’s defeat at the hands of fellow strugglers Mumbai Indians put an end to their qualification hopes.
MS Dhoni (BCCI)
For CSK, their opening partnership of Devon Conway and Rutaraj Gaikwad is leading their late-season resurgence. They cannot qualify for the play-offs, but the pair are showing that CSK will have strong batting foundations to build from next season.
Theekshana going up against the in-form Shubman Gill will also be a keen contest at the top of the innings. The powerplays can often swing the momentum to one side or the other and in this game in particular they will be key.
The key to the Titans’ success this season has been the platform that Shubman Gill, Wriddhiman Saha, and captain Hardik Pandya have given the middle order, so much so that the likes of David Miller and Rahul Tewatia have not been tasked with anything more strenuous than some late order hitting in recent matches.
Matches played: 1
Chennai Super Kings wins: 0
Gujarat Titans wins: 1
A warm day is expected in Mumbai, with highs of 32 degrees Celsius, falling to 31 degrees by first ball of the match.
Chennai Super Kings: Ravindra Jadeja, MS Dhoni, Moeen Ali, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Robin Uthappa, Dwayne Bravo, Ambati Rayudu, Deepak Chahar, KM Asif, Tushar Deshpande, Shivam Dube, Maheesh Theekshana, Rajvardhan Hangargekar, Simarjeet Singh, Devon Conway, Dwaine Pretorius, Mitchell Santner, Adam Milne, Subhranshu Senapati, Mukesh Choudhary, Prashant Solanki, C Hari Nishaanth, N Jagadeesan, Chris Jordan, K Bhagath Varma
Gujarat Titans: Hardik Pandya, Shubman Gill, Rashid Khan, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Mohammad Shami, Lockie Ferguson, Abhinav Sadarangani, Rahul Tewatia, Noor Ahmad, R Sai Kishore, Dominic Drakes, Jayant Yadav, Vijay Shankar, Darshan Nalkande, Yash Dayal, Alzarri Joseph, Prandeep Sangwan, David Miller, Wriddhiman Saha, Matthew Wade, Gurkeerat Singh, Varun Aaron
Rashid Khan (BCCI)
Chennai Super Kings: Ruturaj Gaikwad, Devon Conway, Robin Uthappa, Ambati Rayudu, MS Dhoni, Ravindra Jadeja, Mitch Santner, Dwaine Pretorius, Simarjeet Singh, Maheesh Theekshana, Mukesh Choudhary
Gujarat Titans: Wriddhiman Saha, Shubman Gill, Hardik Pandya, David Miller, Rahul Tewatia, Rashid Khan, Abhinav Manohar, Lockie Ferguson, Alzarri Joseph, Yash Dayal, Mohammed Shami
The bookies make Gujarat Titans favourites for this match with 3/4 odds. CSK are 6/5 to win tomorrow.
Gujarat Titans are the best team in this season’s IPL and will be firm favourites for this one. CSK are looking for wins to lift themselves away from being categorised in the same bracket as the calamitous MI at the bottom.
In the UK, Sky Sports have exclusive rights to this year's tournament, with matches available on Sky Sports Main Event and Sky Sports Cricket.
Fans in India can watch all of the action on Star Sports.
Elsewhere in the world, viewers in Australia can watch the IPL on Fox Sports while in New Zealand, Sky Sport will provide coverage.
Willow TV and Flow Sports will broadcast the tournament in the United States and the Caribbean, respectively.
Fans in MENA can catch the action on beIN Sports while in South Africa, SuperSport have the rights.
The IPL can also be streamed on Disney+ and Hotstar in certain areas.
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