The first weekend of IPL 2023 is in the history books. Gujarat Titans, Rajasthan Royals, Lucknow Super Giants, Punjab Kings and Royal Challengers Bangalore opened their accounts by winning their first matches.

RR, LSG and RCB recorded big wins against Sunrisers Hyderabad, Delhi Capitals and Mumbai Indians, respectively, while PBKS beat Kolkata Knight Riders in a close match in Mohali. The opening match between Gujarat Titans and Chennai Super Kings was also a tough match, which GT won by five wickets.

RR, LSG and RCB recorded big wins against Sunrisers Hyderabad, Delhi Capitals and Mumbai Indians, respectively, while PBKS beat Kolkata Knight Riders in a close match in Mohali. The opening match between Gujarat Titans and Chennai Super Kings was also a tough match, which GT won by five wickets.

CSK played well in this match, scoring 178-7 in the 20 overs they conceded. However, they could not defend the target, as GT cruised home in 19.2 overs. The Super Kings will be in action on Monday night against the Lucknow Super Giants.

Ahead of the clash between CSK and LSG in IPL 2023, take a look at two things Chennai can learn from Gujarat Titans.

1 Enable bowling option in IPL 2023 matches

MS Dhoni is arguably one of the best captains in limited-overs cricket, and no one understands the game better than him. However, the Chennai Super Kings skipper surprisingly used only five-ball options against Gujarat Titans.

CSK showed Tushar Deshpande as an impact player. Even though Deshpande couldn't be too impressed, Dhoni stuck with him and decided to give him four overs. The uncapped pacer ended up conceding 51 runs in 3.2 overs at an economy rate of 15.3.

Even former Indian cricketer Virender Sehwag was surprised by Dhoni's approach. Speaking to Cricbuzz after the match, Sehwag said:

"Had Dhoni used an over from Moeen Ali somewhere in the middle, he may not have needed to go to Tushar Deshpande, who was highly expensive. You don't see MS Dhoni making such mistakes often."

GT did not make this mistake. After Yash Dayal scored 14 runs in his first innings, skipper Hardik Pandya did not give him another ball in the innings. Hardik played the remaining three games.

2 Limit number of extra runs while bowling

The inexperience of CSK's bowling attack showed in their IPL 2023 match against Gujarat Titans. Chennai conceded 12 overs - six overs, two off balls and four wides - to Gujarat.

Those 12 runs added up and were the difference in the end. Wide and no ball is what the CSK bowlers can work on. After giving away two free kicks, they gave away two free kicks to the Titans, and the GT kickers broke the limit with two free kicks. Meanwhile, the Titans gave up eight more runs — six passes, one interception and one pass breakup. CSK's four wickets and no-balls affected the outcome of the match. It will be interesting to see how Super Kings perform in their second IPL 2023 match against Lucknow Super Giants.