CSK vs GT: Chennai aim for spot in final as they brace to pass 'Gill Test'

The astute tactician in Mahendra Singh Dhoni will dig deep into his reserves to counter Indian crickets new Crown Prince Shubman Gill as fourtime champions Chennai Super Kings will meet their match in current title holders Gujarat Titans in Qualifier1 of the IPL here on TuesdayGill who almost singlehandedly knocked out a starstudded Royal Challengers Bangalore with a century for the keeps has overshadowed Virat Kohli and will certainly force one of Indias greatest captains to go back to drawing board and make plans for himGill is in the midst of a dream season and what will be Dhonis tactical ploy to stop the dashing Mohali Marauder is there to be seenThis season Gujarat Titans havent played at the Chepauk which hasnt behaved in a singular manner during CSKs seven home games and that prompted head coach Stephen Fleming to raise apprehensions about what to expectWhat makes this battle even more interesting is the fact that GT is a team that seems closest to being a prototype of what CSK had been all these years in IPLA solid management and an administration team that stays in the background and never interferes in cricketing matters which is left to the trio of Ashish Nehra Gary Kirsten and Vikram SolankiA captain who swears that his understanding of leadership is cut from Dhonis captaincy cloth and head coach Nehra who just like his former teammate doesnt believe in too many changes even if a couple of games go wrongThey dont field players based on their auction worth remember CSK bought Krishnappa Gowtham for nearly Rs 10 crore and he got a single game as he didnt fit the combinationSimilarly GT has current India T20 pacer Shivam Mavi on its roster for a whopping Rs 6 crore but the team management has preferred veteran Mohit Sharma who is executing the slower deliveries beautifully Its all about who fits what roleSo it becomes more interesting when two teams with similar philosophy are pitted against each otherThe teams which dont make longterm promises that are difficult to fulfil but focus on immediate process and know the roles of players required for slotsFor Gujarat tackling the slowness of the Chepauk track will be a challenge and how well they negotiate Deepak Chahars powerplay overs and Matheesha Pathiranas slingers at the backend will determine the outcome of the matchAnd herein Pandya and Nehra will find Sri Lanka skipper Dasun Shanakas inputs handy as he has handled both Pathirana and spinner Maheesh Theekshana for the national teamWhile Shanaka might be used more as an allrounder Titans depending on the toss can also try out leftarm spinner R Sai Kishore who knows these conditions wellThere is a chance that Irishman Joshua Little will be back in playing XI in place of Shanaka and Sai Kishore comes in place of Yash Dayal who is yet to get back his confidence after the five sixes assault on him by his statemate Rinku SinghFor CSK a good start by the crack pair of Devon Conway and Ruturaj Gaikwad will be important But at the Chepauk even Ajinkya Rahane could become a factor while Shivam Dube would love to add to his 33 sixes for the seasonConway and Gaikwad have provided brisk and substantial starts for CSK the middleorder hasnt exactly got going With GT bowling led by Mohammed Shami and Rashid Khan 24 wickets each so far things wont be easy for the home teams batters Conway and Gaikwad includedHow the CSK opening duo handles the relentless Shami may prove vital and it would be important for the underperforming middleorder to step up in a crunch gameThe pitches at Chepauk so far have been a bit up and down with a few being slow in nature while some have been good to bat on CSK head coach Fleming said as much after the win over Delhi Capitals claiming that the team is unsure about the conditions at homeIf a sluggish pitch is rolled out for the match the spinners in the two teams would have a huge part to play If CSK has Ravindra Jadeja Moeen Ali and Theekshana the Titans boast of a lineup that includes Rashid and Noor AhmadTeams fromChennai Super Kings MS Dhoni cwk Akash Singh Moeen Ali Bhagath Varma Deepak Chahar Devon Conway Tushar Deshpande Shivam Dube Ruturaj Gaikwad Rajvardhan Hangargekar Ravindra Jadeja Sisanda Magala Ajay Mandal Matheesha Pathirana Dwaine Pretorius Ajinkya Rahane Shaik Rasheed Ambati Rayudu Mitchell Santner Subhranshu Senapati Simarjeet Singh Nishant Sindhu Prashant Solanki Maheesh TheekshanaGujarat Titans Hardik Pandya c Shubman Gill David Miller Abhinav Manohar Sai Sudharsan Wriddhiman Saha Matthew Wade Rashid Khan Rahul Tewatia Vijay Shankar Mohammed Shami Alzarri Joseph Yash Dayal Pradeep Sangwan Darshan Nalkande Jayant Yadav R Sai Kishore Noor Ahmad Dasun Shanaka Odean Smith KS Bharat Shivam Mavi Urvil Patel Joshua Little and Mohit SharmaMatch starts at 730 PMAlso Read JadejaDhoni feud rumours intensify after formers wife reacts to Karma tweet