Defending champions Gujarat Titans started their IPL 2023 campaign with a win over Chennai Super Kings at the Narendra Modi Stadium on the 31st of March.
However, new recruit Kane Williamson injured his right knee early and is unfortunately set be ruled out of the entire tournament. The Kiwi batsman was roped in by the holders at the latest auction.
Former Indian batsman Sanjay Manjrekar has opined that Australian Steve Smith would be an ideal replacement for the New Zealand batsman par excellence.
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“I think that would be a brilliant call, and Steve Smith is the kind of player they want, somebody who can play all kinds of gears," the 57-year-old said.
He also emphasised that the addition of the Australian skipper who managed to claim a win and a draw in the final two Tests of the Border-Gavaskar series could be of great help to Hardik Pandya and co. given his astute nature as the captain and his cricketing intelligence.
“Plus with the new rules, I’d love to see Smith’s captaincy, we saw that and we were raving about it in the India-Australia series," Manjrekar added.
“Hardik Pandya needs a bit of help, he confessed, ‘I have no idea what my tactics are, so I’m going to leave it to the others.’ So, that could be a great call," the cricketer-turned-commentator said.
Gujarat successfully chased down the target of 179 set by CSK in the opener with five wickets to spare and four deliveries remaining.
Ruturaj Gaikwad played a brilliant innings for the Chennai-based side as he managed a stunning 92 runs off 50 deliveries. But, it ultimately went in vain as Shubman Gill top-scored for the holders with 63 runs off 36 deliveries.
Rashid Khan, Alzarri Joseph and Mohammed Shami picked up two wickets apiece with the ball for the Ahmedabad-based outfit as they managed to claim seven Chennai wickets at the end of 20 overs.
CSK bowler Rajvardhan Hangargekar picked up three scalps while Tushar Deshpande and Ravindra Jadeja each picked up a wicket, but it ultimately proved to be futile for the four-time winners as GT took the win in the curtain raiser.
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