Lucknow, May 3 (IANS): Chennai Super Kings (CSK) won the toss and elected to bowl first against Lucknow Super Giant (LSG) in an IPL 2023 match at Ekana Stadium, here on Wednesday.
CSK skipper MS Dhoni confirmed that Deepak Chahar is fit and will replace Akash Singh in the playing XI.
"The fact that the wicket was under covers and it looks a bit tacky, so we'll look to bowl first. You have to see all conditions and venues. For us, Deepak is fit, so he comes in for Akash," Dhoni said at the toss.
On the other hand, Krunal Pandya will lead LSG as regular skipper KL Rahul has been ruled out of today's match due to injury. Manan Vohra and Karan Sharma have also come for LSG in the playing XI.
"We wanted to bat first, so it was even stevens. The batters can go out and express themselves. KL is a big loss, he's a quality player but it creates an opportunity. The morale is pretty high, we are looking to play some positive cricket," said Pandya.
Playing XIs:
Chennai Super Kings: Ruturaj Gaikwad, Devon Conway, Ajinkya Rahane, Moeen Ali, Shivam Dube, Ravindra Jadeja, MS Dhoni (c & wk), Deepak Chahar, Matheesha Pathirana, Tushar Deshpande, Maheesh Theekshana
Lucknow Super Giants: Manan Vohra, Kyle Mayers, Marcus Stoinis, Krunal Pandya (C), Karan Sharma, Nicholas Pooran (WK), Ayush Badoni, K Gowtham, Naveen-ul-Haq, Ravi Bishnoi, Mohsin Khan