Chennai Super Kings win toss, opt to field against Lucknow Super Giants in IPL 2023

Lucknow (Uttar Pradesh) [India], May 3 (ANI): Chennai Super Kings skipper MS Dhoni won the toss and opted to field first against Lucknow Super Giants at Ekana Sports City stadium on Wednesday.

LSG will play this fixture without their skipper and star batter KL Rahul as he suffered a hamstring injury. CSK will try to exploit this gap in their batting lineup. If CSK wins this game they might end up at the top of the table depending on their margin of victory. LSG can also claim the top spot with a victory.
Toss was delayed due to rain and the game is set to begin from at 4:45 pm.

CSK skipper MS Dhoni said at the toss: “We’ll bowl first. 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 the venue. For us, Deepak is fit, so he comes in for Akash. You’ve decided it is my last IPL, not me.”

LSG stand-in skipper Krunal Pandya said at the toss, “We wanted to bat first, so it is 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. Manan (Vohra) and Karan (Sharma) come in.”

CSK (Playing XI): Ruturaj Gaikwad, Devon Conway, Ajinkya Rahane, Moeen Ali, Shivam Dube, Ravindra Jadeja, MS Dhoni (capt & wk), Deepak Chahar, Matheesha Pathirana, Tushar Deshpande, Maheesh Theekshana

LSG (Playing XI): Kyle Mayers, Manan Vohra, Karan Sharma, Ayush Badoni, Marcus Stoinis, Nicholas Pooran(w), Krunal Pandya(c), Krishnappa Gowtham, Naveen-ul-Haq, Ravi Bishnoi, Mohsin Khan.