Four-time champions Chennai Super Kings (CSK) will take on the inaugural champions of the IPL Rajasthan Royal (RR) on Wednesday at the M.A. Chidambaram stadium in Chennai. The Dhoni-led side lost the season opener against Gujarat Titans but they bounced back in style against the Lucknow Super Giants in their first home game of the season.
The Super Kings then made it two wins in a row as they beat Mumbai Indians by seven wickets at the Wankhede Stadium on Saturday, 8 April. Ravindra Jadeja led the way with the ball with a momentum-changing spell of 3/20 as the CSK spinners restricted MI to a below-par 157/8. Ajinkya Rahane then came out all guns blazing and hit a whirlwind 61(27) while Ruturaj Gaikwad played the support act (40* off 36 balls) to help CSK chase the target down with 11 balls to spare.
CSK would be happy with the consistency of their batters as almost all of them have chipped in with some sort of contribution in the three games so far. They might have found another middle-order mainstay in Ajinkya Rahane, after his explosive knock against MI ensured CSK the win.
Gaikwad too is in great nick and is on course to better his 600 run season in 2021. He is the second-highest run-scorer this season after Shikhar Dhawan of PBKS with 189 runs in 3 games with a mammoth strike rate of 161.
Both Ambati Rayudu and Shivam Dube have made small but significant contributions with the bat in both their wins this season. CSK will hope that Ben Stokes can have more of an impact on their games, the INR 16.25 cr pickup has been below par with the bat and has conceded 18 runs in the solitary over he has bowled.
The spinners have been the standout bowlers so far for CSK. Jadeja, Santner and Ali have picked up 11 wickets between them at an economy of under 7. The spin department will be further strengthened with Maheesh Theekshana and Matheesha Pathirana are expected to be available for selection against RR after concluding national duty with Sri Lanka.
Tushar Deshpande is currently the highest wicket-taker with 5 scalps but he has conceded more than 12 runs an over. Rajvardhan Hangargekar also has 3 wickets at an economy of 10. CSK will be happy to have Dwaine Pretorius and Sisanda Magala as backup options after Deepak Chahar picked up a hamstring injury against MI and will need further scans to find out the extent of the injury.
If fit, Stokes and Ali would be expected to slot straight back into the playing eleven after missing the game against MI due to injury and illness respectively. Hangargekar could replace the injured Chahar as the other domestic seam option in the line-up.
CSK’s likely XI vs RR in IPL 2023
Openers: Ruturaj Gaikwad, Devon Conway.
Top and middle Order: Ajinkya Rahane, Ambati Rayudu and MS Dhoni.
All-Rounders: Ravindra Jadeja, Shivam Dube, Moeen Ali, Mitchell Santner.
Pacers: Tushar Deshpande and Rajvardhan Hangargekar.
Impact Player
Subhranshu Senapati, Shaik Rasheed, Ambati Rayudu, Simarjeet Singh and Dwaine Pretorius could be the options for Impact Player.
