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The first match of the 16th edition of the Indian Premier League will see defending champions Gujarat Titans taking on Chennai Super Kings on March 31 at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad. 

Notably, after finishing ninth in the last edition of the competition, the MS Dhoni-led side made some significant changes and signed some quality players in the form of Ben Stokes, Ajinkya Rahane and Sisanda Magala.

On the other hand, Gujarat were very smart at the auction. They had all the bases covered except for the number three position and for which, they have signed Kiwi skipper Kane Williamson. In order to strengthen their Indian bowling attack, the team also signed Shivam Mavi while Joshua Little can prove to be very dangerous in the middle.

However, they will miss David Miller in the opening game as the South Africa international is currently on national duty. In his absence, the team can try Alzarri Joseph against CSK as the pacer recently picked up a brilliant five-for for West Indies against the Proteas. Other than that, the team looks pretty much sorted and skipper Hardik Pandya will be happy with the position they are in.

Meanwhile, CSK has one of the best squads in the tournament but death bowling remains to be an area of concern. After Dwayne Bravo announced his retirement from the game, it was expected the franchise to run after death-over specialists but unfortunately for them, that didn’t happen. 

In the end, they spent a lot of money on Ben Stokes (INR 16.25 crore) and because of which, they couldn’t focus much on other cricketers. Nevertheless, they have their captain, leader, and legend in the form of MS Dhoni, who will somehow manage, as always!