The 16th season of Indian Premier League (IPL 2023) got underway with defending champions Gujarat Titans (GT) taking on 4-time winners Chennai Super Kings (CSK) at Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on Friday (March 31).

GT captain Hardik Pandya won the toss and chose to bowl first, with CSK captain MS Dhoni shrugging off his knee niggle that caused a lot of concern to fans of the immensely adored cricketer and the franchise on the eve of the clash.

CSK posted 178/7 on the board with opener Ruturaj Gaikwad smashing 92 off 50 balls with four fours and nine sixes. Apart from Moeen Ali (23) no other CSK batter could make much of an impact and that allowed GT to restrict the final total. Mohammad Shami, Rashid Khan and Alzarri Joseph finished with two wickets apiece.

Dhoni, who batted at number 8 for the first time in his IPL career, scored 14* off 7 balls with one four and one six, both coming off Ireland's Joshua Little in the final over of the innings.

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Now 41-years-old, Dhoni may have lost some of his reflexes, but not his power, as he smashed Little into the stands for his 200th six while playing for CSK, as thousands of fans erupted in joy at the world's largest cricket stadium.

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