"I am sure MS will go with Chahar and then one of the two spinners" - Sanjay Manjrekar on CSK's possible strategy can stop Shubman Gill in the final
Former Indian cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar has stated that the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) should bowl Deepak Chahar and one of their spinners in the powerplay to dismiss Gujarat Titans (GT) in-form opener Shubman Gill in the grand finale in Ahmedabad on Sunday, May 28.
Gill has been in red-hot form in IPL 2023. He has scored three centuries in his previous four innings, including a scintillating 129 off 60 balls in Qualifier 2 against the Mumbai Indians (MI).
Speaking on ESPN Cricinfo, Manjrekar suggested how MS Dhoni could go about stopping Gill by saying:
"Deepak Chahar to begin with. Swing bowler, get the ball to come back in , hopefully Gill is on the backfoot and not on the frontfoot so that's one chance. Get spin early because Tushar Deshpande I think Gill will manage quite easily."
He added:
"Somebody like Theekshana bowling it straight and hoping that there's a slight lapse of concentration and the pad comes in line of the ball and if there is some turn, which is unlikely, then Jadeja with two right handers at the top. But I am sure MS will go with Chahar and then one of the two spinners," added Manjrekar.
Former Australian all-rounder Tom Moody shared Manjrekar's views on CSK's possible strategy against the GT batting lineup. He said:
"I think it's Chahar with the new ball, he needs to strike with a couple of early wickets just to expose that middle order as quickly as possible and obviously Gill is the big prize. If he can strike early and another option that MS Dhoni might go to early in that powerplay stage is Theekshana, I think he may also be an option considered so I think that is the key for CSK."
It is worth remembering that Chahar has dismissed Gill three times in the IPL, with the 23-year-old averaging only 20.66 against the right-arm pacer.
Gill is currently the Orange cap holder with a stunning 851 runs in 14 matches at an average of 60.79 and a strike rate of 156.43.
"The pitch has to have some kind of tackiness and it's slow or slightly damp" - Sanjay Manjrekar on CSK's best chance of beating GT in the IPL final
Sanjay Manjrekar remarked that the pitch at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad should be tacky and damp for the Chennai Super Kings to defeat the Gujarat Titans in the final.
The 57-year-old, however, opined that the pitch would most likely not be an ally to MS Dhoni's men and should be a belter similar to Qualifier 2.
Manjrekar said:
"If they want to get the best out of their own team, the pitch has to have some kind of tackiness and it's slow or slightly damp or rough so that they can take the pace off and if they can take the pace off, they've got the bowling for it and I guess somewhat the batting too with people like Conway, Ruturaj Gaikward, Ambati Rayudu played a nice cameo, Ajinkya Rahane but you can't see that happening, I think you'll see another belter of a pitch."
"The problem with batting first is batting first on a good pitch with the knowledge about the Titans batting lineup, what is a score that's going to be good enough that's going to put pressure, that's a massive task they are faced with," concluded Manjrekar.
The two teams have faced off twice this season, with the home team winning both games quite convincingly.
With a victory, CSK can match the Mumbai Indians for the most IPL titles in league history, while GT can become the third side to back-to-back titles after CSK and MI.