CSK vs GT - a Chepauk spin showdown like no other in IPL 2024

All the hype of Tuesday’s (Mar 26) IPL 2023 final replay between Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and Gujarat Titans (GT) has been limited to the battle of the new captains, Ruturaj Gaikwad and Shubman Gill. It is understandable too, given they are the future mainstays of the Indian team and such contests could impact their international captaincy credentials.

But their captaincy won’t decide who wins. Gaikwad still needs some time to get out of MS Dhoni’s shadows. Whereas, in GT’s last match against the Mumbai Indians in Ahmedabad, GT head coach Ashish Nehra repeatedly called Gill to the boundary to share his advice.

The result will depend on which team uses its spinners better at the best ground for slow bowlers in the world — the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chepauk. Since 2020, 154 wickets have fallen to spin at Chepauk from 29 matches, which is the second-most for any venue in this period in the IPL, only behind Mumbai’s Wankhede Stadium, which saw 15 more games.

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CSK have used this to their advantage throughout the past decade by filling their team up with world-class spinners. Ravindra Jadeja (who had the most wickets at Chepauk in 2023) and Maheesh Theekshana are mainstays for their respective national teams and are incredibly skilled to keep out Mitchell Santner and Moeen Ali - who’ll make the XI for most other teams.

Jadeja is relentless with his lineand lengthand uses the natural variation available from the pitch, similar to his tactics for Tests. Theekshana, on the other hand, creates everything with his fingers, making the ball move at different angles with his deceiving dexterity. Thanks to them, CSK’s spin average in IPL 2023 read 25.55 and played a major role in their title win.

Only two teams were better than CSK on that metric — Rajasthan Royals (24.53) and GT (22.37). Nehra will know that to beat Gaikwad & Co. at Chepauk, he’ll need to out-spin CSK and he’ll have the world’s best leg-spinner Rashid Khan and local hero R Sai Kishore to do that.

Rashid has eight wickets from seven matches at CSK’s den at a brilliant average of 25.55. In the IPL 2023 final, Dhoni and Co. didn’t give him even one wicket — effectively taking away the Purple Cap — which was a decisive factor in the contest. He’ll want some revenge too.

Meanwhile, Sai Kishore is coming off a bumper Ranji Trophy season with Tamil Nadu where he was the highest wicket-taker and was only the third spinner from the state to cross 50 scalps. Not many in the IPL know Chepauk’s conditions better than him. Not to forget that Noor Ahmad, who took 16 wickets from just 13 matches in IPL 2023, can come in as well.

The Royals will visit Chennai in the business end of the tournament but without Adam Zampa, who was excellent against CSK in IPL 2023. Tuesday’s match, thus, could be the best spin battle in 2024, to be decided not by the captains’ acumen but by individuals’ nous in bowling and playing the mysterious art.