Now only one week is left before the start of IPL 2023. As the day is getting shorter, the excitement among the fans is increasing even more. The first match of this season will be played between Gujarat Titans and Chennai Super Kings on March 31 at 8:00 pm at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.
Chennai Super Kings are the team making headlines this season. The reason behind this is their captain, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, this could be his last season. All the fans are anxious to see him play on the field one last time.
Chennai Super Kings included a total of 7 players in this year’s mini-auction, one of the 7 players, England all-rounder Ben Stokes, became the costliest player that CSK included in their team. CSK bought him for 16.25 crore.
CSK Strongest Playing 11 for IPL 2023
Opener: Devon Conway, Ruturaj Gaikwad
Rituraj Gaikwad and Devon Conway can be seen opening for the Chennai Super Kings this season. Rituraj Gaikwad’s last season was spectacular; he scored 368 runs in 14 matches at an average of 26. In the same year 2022, he also scored three half-centuries.
Opening with Rituraj Gaikwad, we can see New Zealand’s left-handed batsman, Devon Conway. Conway got a chance to play only 7 matches last season, in which he scored a total of 252 runs at an average of 42. The special thing about Conway is that he scores runs at a fast pace, which will help the Chennai team get a quick start.
Middle Order: Shivam Dube, Ambati Rayudu, Ben Stokes
Chennai’s middle order is looking very strong, we can see Shivam Dubey batting at number three. Shivam Dubey scored 289 runs in 11 matches last season with a strike rate of 156.
Batting at number four in the middle order, we can see Ambati Rayudu. Rayudu scored 274 runs in 13 matches last season at an average of 24 (including a half-century). The same, he has scored 4190 runs in 188 matches in his entire IPL career, including 22 half-centuries and 1 century. The special thing about him is that he has the ability to hit long sixes against fast bowlers as well as against spin bowlers.
Batting at number five in the middle order for Chennai, we can see England’s great all-rounder Ben Stokes. Stokes was bought by the Chennai franchise in his team for a total of 16.25 crores in the mini option. He has not played IPL matches for the last 2 years but he has no dearth of talent, he has scored a total of 920 runs in 43 IPL matches and has also taken 28 wickets. Every team would like to include a player like him in their playing eleven because he can single-handedly change the condition of the match.
Lower Order: MS Dhoni, Ravindra Jadeja
When it comes to finishing a match, every cricket fan thinks of only one player: Mahendra Singh Dhoni. One last time in the year 2023, we will see Dhoni finishing matches for Chennai and keeping the wicket behind the wicket. Last season, he scored a total of 232 runs in 14 matches at an average of 33.
Whenever we talk about the best all-rounder in modern-day cricket, Ravindra Jadeja’s name definitely comes up. Last season, Jadeja played only 10 matches, in which he scored 116 runs and took 5 wickets. He has a lot of experience in IPL matches, having played a total of 210 IPL matches so far.
Bowlers: Maheesh Theekshana, Deepak Chahar, Mukesh Choudhary, Kyle Jamieson
We will definitely see Sri Lankan spinner Maheesh Theekshana in the playing XI. He made his IPL debut in the last season of 2022 for the Chennai team and took a total of 12 wickets in 9 matches with an economy rate of 7.
Deepak Chahar is the fast bowler for Chennai Super Kings, so his place in the playing eleven is fixed. Deepak did not play the last season due to injury, but he made his IPL debut in 2016, and since then he has taken 59 wickets in 63 matches with an economy rate of 7.80.
Apart from Deepak Chahar, we can see Mukesh Chaudhary in the team as an alternative to other fast bowlers. Mukesh’s third season was very good; he took 16 wickets in 13 matches in the last season and was also the highest wicket-taker for his team.
Jamieson was acquired by the Chennai franchise in the IPL auction this season; he did not play in the previous season (IPL 2022), but he did take 9 wickets in 9 matches for RCB in his first season (IPL 2021).
Chennai Super Kings Strongest Playing 11 for IPL 2023
- Opener: Devon Conway, Ruturaj Gaikwad
- Middle Order: Shivam Dube, Ambati Rayudu, Ben Stokes
- Lower Order: MS Dhoni, Ravindra Jadeja
- Bowlers: Maheesh Theekshana, Deepak Chahar, Mukesh Choudhary, Kyle Jamieson
Chennai Super Kings Squad for IPL 2023
MS Dhoni, Ravindra Jadeja, Devon Conway, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Ambati Rayudu, Subhranshu Senapati, Moeen Ali, Shivam Dube, Rajvardhan Hangargekar, Dwaine Pretorius, Mitchell Santner, Deepak Chahar, Tushar Deshpande, Mukesh Choudhary, Matheesha Pathirana, Simarjeet Singh, Prashant Solanki, Maheesh Theekshana, Ajinkya Rahane, Ben Stokes, Shaik Rasheed, Nishant Sindhu, Kyle Jamieson, Ajay Mandal, Bhagath Varma, Sisanda Magala
Don’t Miss: Royal Challengers Bangalore Strongest Playing XI for IPL 2023