'Rahulll Naam to suna hi hoga' - Fans ecstatic as defending champions Gujarat start their campaign with impressive win against Chennai

Gujarat and Chennai locked horns in the tournament opener of the Indian T20 League 2023 at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on Friday. The hosts’ skipper Hardik Pandya won the toss and decided to bowl first. Batting first, Chennai managed to post a total of 178 runs for the loss of seven wickets in the allotted 20 overs.

Later on, the defending champions, Gujarat scored 182 runs for the loss of five wickets in 19.3 overs and the season opener by a margin of five wickets. The cricket fans were also excited after witnessing this amazing opening encounter between Hardik Pandya’s men with MS Dhoni & co.

They took to Twitter to come up with interesting reactions and lavished praises on Gujarat and appreciated the team performance delivered by Hardik Pandya's men in the first match of the tournament.

Here’s how fans reacted:

Rahulllllllll Naam to suna hi hoga🤣🤣

Smjhe CSK waalon🤣🤣

Well played #GujaratTitans

hope you win this time also#AavaDe#GTvsCSK

— Insider News (@hottopic050) March 31, 2023

What a great performance by Gujarat Titans... 🎉🎉😍#IPL2023#GTvsCSK#IPLonJioCinema#IPLT20 pic.twitter.com/NwopeWfn8J

— Abhishek soni (@Abhishe57223573) March 31, 2023

Rashid khan🔥❤

Pandya and team won the game🙌#GTvsCSK

— keerthana varma (@Keerthanavarma_) March 31, 2023

A brilliant finish by Tewatia nd Rashid..

GT started off in style 🤝🏻



Well played Gill & Rutu#GTvsCSK#IPL2023

— कट्टर कोहली- रैना भक्त (@im_abhishek73) March 31, 2023

CSK fans RN🤣🤣🤣#IPL2023 ll #GTvsCSK pic.twitter.com/jrTST5pjQg

— SUNIL (@Sunilprajapat76) March 31, 2023

Pura bowling department change nahi kar sakte kya impact bowling department namse🙂#GTvsCSK

— Pritom Chakraborty (@BeingPritom) March 31, 2023

once again, for the nth time we missed one main death bowler. same case, every season 😒



hope we'll be back stronger.

well played, rutu, rajwardhan & thala💛#GTvsCSK#GTvsCSK

— Vedant Baranwal (@awokebhakt) March 31, 2023

Great knock Gujrat Titan win 1st match 👏

Well played Shubman Gill 63(36)❤️#GTvsCSK #IPL2023 #IPLonJioCinema #RashidKhan #ShubmanGill #HardikPandya #MSDhoni pic.twitter.com/LCZBQ6Q6AV

— Pankaj Chaurasiya (@imPankaj009) March 31, 2023

Gujarat Titans fans should be happy for Shubman Gill's strike rate of 175 rather than his 63 runs. Strike rate was his concern last season and he has opened #IPL2023 in a great way. #GTvsCSK

— Vibinraj (@vibin1021) March 31, 2023

Speaking of the action of the match, star Chennai opener Ruturaj Gaikwad played a swashbuckling knock of 92 runs off just 50 balls with four boundaries and nine sixes to his name. Apart from him, it was only Mooen Ali for Chennai, who crossed the individual mark of 20+ runs with a knock of 23 runs off 17 balls including four boundaries and a six.

On the back of Gaikwad’s brilliant knock, Chennai managed to post a total of 178 runs for the loss of seven wickets in the allotted 20 overs. Rashid Khan, Mohammed Shami, and Alzarri Joseph scalped two wickets each for Gujarat alongside one wicket claimed by Josh Little.

While chasing the target, Gujarat got a good start of 37 runs for the first wicket in 3.5 overs courtesy of the opening pair of Wridhiman Saha and Shubman Gill before the former fell prey to Rajvardhan Hangargekar on the fifth ball of the fourth over. Saha scored 25 runs off 16 balls with two boundaries and the same number of sixes to his name.

Later on, young in-form opener Shubman Gill played a swashbuckling knock of 63 runs off just 36 balls with six boundaries and three sixes with the wood. Eventually, Gujarat managed to cross the line in 19.3 overs to win the match by five wickets, thanks to the closing heroics of Rashid Khan and Rahul Tewatia.

Rashid Khan won the 'player of the match award for his brilliant match-defining knock in favor of Gujarat.