IPL 2023 final: With Dhoni & his protégé Hardik Pandya clashing, will it be a CSK versus new-CSK battle?

Nearly two months and 73 games later, we are back to the Narendra Modi Stadium with Gujarat Titans playing Chennai Super Kings in the IPL final. The season started with these two teams at the same venue. Who knew Titans will be there again to have a shot at defending their IPL title against a powerhouse of an IPL team. As Hardik Pandya walks out with his idol MS Dhoni for the toss in front of over a 1lakh people on Sunday evening, it will mark the battle between India’s T20 future and the foundation of Indian T20 cricket.In this Sportscast, TOI’s cricket writers Arani Basu and Dwaipayan Datta discuss the battles within the big battle on Sunday. Also listen: IPL’s uncapped IX: Is it time to blood young ones for India T20 team?Hardik Pandya may be leading Gujarat Titans at his home ground but one won’t be surprised if the stadium turns yellow in honour of Dhoni. The home advantage may cease to exist. That has been the trend throughout the tournament and it won’t be any different in the final. Dhoni has been such an icon and the emotions that he evokes is unparalleled. I would say that even if Gujarat loses, the fans won't be too said because Dhoni would win.One couldn’t have asked for a better final than this. There’s nothing to choose between the teams, they cancel each other out on every front. It will all boil down to how the teams play on that one night. In recent memory, 2019 was the best final where it went to the last ball. CSK lost that to Malinga’s yorker. Something tells me, it will go that deep this time also ... Just to remind you, we haven’t had a Super Over yet. How about one in the final...Titans bowling attack is unbelievable. They are going to retain their team from the last game against Mumbai Indians unless there are no injuries. Joshua Little’s return adds more variety to an already potent attack. But CSK also have a good variety. Deepak Chahar can get them early wickets, Jadeja can be very good in the middle and Pathirana is outstanding at the death. So, Titans can take nothing for granted Ruturaj Gaikwad and Shubman Gill have been brilliant at the top of the order for their respective teams. Gaikwad’s evolution is seen as CSK’s heir apparent. Meanwhile, Gill has become this superstar. Both of them will be vying for the opening slots for Team India. Shubman has been beyond brilliant. But if you see the history of IPL, teams that have had the highest run scorer of that year haven’t won the IPL. Sachin in 2010, Kohli in 2016, Buttler last year. It’s a strange jinx. Gujarat is not as overdependent on Titans as some of these other teams were. Ruturaj Gaekwad has also been brilliant and it is crucial that he gets runs too. But if Ruturaj gets out within the first 6 overs, Rahane will come in and he is a similar kind of player. And if he gets out after six, then Dubey comes in, who can be really destructive. So, end of day, both teams will depend on the two star openers, but there will be more to the final.Rashid Khan with the ball could disrupt CSK’s batting momentum in the middle overs. Dhoni doesn’t fear too many players, but Rashid is an exception. There was a time when he really wanted to have Rashid in his team, but that couldn’t happen. There will be an amount of caution while playing Rashid and there will be an attempt to take on Noor Ahmad. He is a good wrist spinner, but the likes of Dube can be destructive against spin. That’s another battle to look out for.Titans played a draining match on Friday. They are only getting a day’s gap while CSK’s last game was Tuesday. It can work both ways. Yes, fatigue is there, but sometimes the winning momentum also matters. In the 2013 final, CSK won the first qualifier and then sat in Kolkata for a week as Mumbai worked their way into final. And then, the final, they thrashed CSKHardik has modelled his captaincy around Dhoni. His demeanour has been compared to Dhoni’s calm outlook in pressure situations. They have a similar mindset, both are calm and don’t lose their head. Hardik has Ashish Nehra as coach, who also follows the Dhoni playbook. So we can say it is a battle of CSK vs New CSK.Audio production: Sahil Gupta