On Sunday night, Gujarat Titans kick off their last league game against Royal Challengers Bangalore. By Sunday evening, he found himself immersed in the sweltering humidity of Chennai, training hard a day ahead of the all-important Qualifier 1 against Chennai Super Kings.
With a tight turnaround time between games for the defending champions, their practice sessions on the day of the trip were kept relatively light. Notably, key players like Hardik Pandya, Shubman Gill, Rashid Khan and Mohammed Shami opted to skip the practice sessions. Instead, the support staff led by Ashish Nehra, Vikram Solanki, and Mithun Manhas prioritized providing opportunities for others to hit substantial hits in the middle.
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Only David Miller and Vijay Shankar had an extended session in the middle lane. Vijay, coming off his 35-ball 53 against RCB, dispelled any doubts over his fitness and the home-town boy can play a similar role.
Their starting No.3 after Kane Williamson was injured in the first game, Sai Sudarshan – a local boy from Chennai – has been sensational whenever he has got the chance to bat high. He also got a good hit in the nets adjacent to the ground with GT’s second-string pace attack comprising Pradeep Sangwan, Shivam Mavi and Dasun Shanka.
But only one of Shankar and Sudarshan will make the cut, and considering the intimidation of Moeen Ali and Ravindra Jadeja, it is likely that Shankar will get the nod.
However, GT, which has been close to clinical in its campaign so far, has one major issue to deal with. And the fact that this will be GT’s first match at Chepauk makes things very interesting for Hardik Pandya & Co.
For CSK, with head coach Stephen Fleming out since that last league game against DC, the Chepauk track has been a mystery this year for them as well. They have won only four out of seven home games. Historically a slow track, it is likely that Dhoni will opt for the same pitch (5) that hosted Punjab Kings on April 30, scoring 405 and CSK losing by four wickets.
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CSK will look to part with Rashid Khan and Noor Ahmed on the opposition side to deliver GT and spin-friendly tracks, but they will fall back on the likes of Jadeja, Moeen and Mathisha Pathirana.
And to counter this, GT gave Miller practically the entire session which started at 6:30 PM and lasted till 10 PM. While Shankar, Sudarshan, and Abhinav Manohar oscillated between the middle strip and the nets area, Miller had the closest to a pitch used for the game tonight, with spinners Sai Kishore and Jayant Yadav bowling to him. .
Miller made a few mistakes initially, but once he was going to the empty chairs at Chepauk, he had to bear the brunt of the brutal hitting. Miller specifically targeted the left-handed orthodox teen during the session and for good measure.
The nets were dominated by Mavi, Shanaka, Sangwan and Joshua Little with Shami, Yash Dayal and their two spinners not performing, who had returned from international duty ahead of the RCB game but GT urged them not to rush. decided.
But, Little is likely to find a place against CSK at the expense of Dayal, which would mean Sanka makes way for Manohar in the middle order. And going by the way the practice session went, it is likely that Manohar will make the cut.
GT, however, practiced at night in hot and humid conditions, which was witnessed by their team bus leaving the MA Chidambaram Stadium at 11:30 pm. And they will be back in just over 14 hours, with the daunting task of facing the Chennai crowd, sweltering humidity and MS Dhoni.