The moment that cricketing fans around India are waiting for has almost arrived as defending champions Gujarat Titans are getting ready to take on MS Dhoni’s Chennai Super Kings in the opening match of IPL 2023 at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on Friday (March 31). However, there can be one spoilsport to this grand occasion – that is the fickle weather in Ahmedabad.
Both GT and CSK had to end their training session early on Thursday (March 30), the eve of the IPL 2023 opener, as a sudden shower sent the cricketers and the support staff scurrying for cover. GT, in fact, posted a video on social media of the sudden shower on Ahmedabad.
Who are you when it rains, #TitansFAM? _______#AavaDe | #TATAIPL2023 pic.twitter.com/X8AXZvaKV0
— Gujarat Titans (@gujarat_titans) March 30, 2023
However, there is some good news for the IPL fans as the weather prediction appears clear for Friday evening for the IPL 2023 opening ceremony followed by the GT vs CSK clash. There is no rain predicted for Friday evening with the maximum temperature expected to hover around 22 degrees in the evening and around 57 per cent humidity as well.
The wind speed is predicted to be around 13-18 km/h during the 20-over clash. The Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad has six red-soil pitches and five black-soil pitches. The ones used for the IPL 2022 final and the recent T20I against New Zealand aided seamers with skipper Hardik Pandya enjoying his outing with the ball, with dew not being much of a factor later in the evening.
Gujarat Titans vs Chennai Super Kings Full Squads
Gujarat 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, Kane Williamson, Odean Smith, KS Bharat, Shivam Mavi, Urvil Patel, Joshua Little, Mohit Sharma
Chennai Super Kings: MS Dhoni (c), Devon Conway, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Ambati Rayudu, Subhranshu Senapati, Moeen Ali, Shivam Dube, Rajvardhan Hangargekar, Dwaine Pretorius, Mitchell Santner, Ravindra Jadeja, Tushar Deshpande, Mukesh Chowdhary, Matheesha Pathirana, Simarjeet Singh, Deepak Chahar, Prashant Solanki, Maheesh Theekshana, Ajinkya Rahane, Ben Stokes, Shaik Rasheed, Nishant Sindhu, Sisanda Magala, Ajay Mandal, Bhagath Varma