Their play-offs hope that Chennai Super Kings would seek to run a wealth campaign when they would compete against the kings of Punjab better but erratic during their Indian Premier League match in Chepauk on Wednesday. It was a disappointing season for the CSK fivefold champions, languid at the bottom of the table with only two wins on nine games. The PBKs, on the other hand, are placed fifth in the rankings with five victories of nine games and would seek to win a victory against a demoralized CSK team, which has not managed to obtain its combinations so far in the season.
What was the most discouraging for CSK is their inability to master the conditions of the house at the Chepauk, considered a fortress for a long time.
CSK would be desperate to record its third victory of the tournament to keep the hopes thin to go to the living room playoffs.
Even a Talisman like Mahendra Singh Dhoni failed to shoot the side after returning to Ruturaj Gaikwad, who was excluded due to an elbow injury.
And Dhoni admitted that CSK had trouble making their ranges correctly.
“If you see the PowerPlay, whether it is the combination or the conditions, we have trouble with the bats and the ball,” said Dhoni.
Key matches
The young recruit of CSK, Ayush Mhatre, who caught the eyeballs during his IPL debut, will seek to display a strong display when he confronts Arshdeep Singh in the PowerPlay.
The most entertaining battle should be between Shivam Dube and Yuzvendra Chahal in the middle of the middle.
Chahal was magnificent for pbks in the second half of the tournament, and it would be interesting to see how the average order of the CSK manages it.
Priyansh Arya and Prabhsimran Singh were in good shape for PBKS when opening the striker and the burden would be on the rhythm of the left arm Khaleel Ahmed to contain the duo.
In the skipper Shreyas Iyer, the PBKs have a striker, which can control the rhythm of the game, but CSK would rely on the Afghan Spinner Noor Ahmad to deliver the goods.
At 43, Dhoni showed his glimpse of his legendary finishing skills, but despite being a clever tactician, he has trouble aligning a winning combination on the ground.
Rachin Ravira was also incoherent at the top. The difficulties of Ravira Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin and Matheesha Pathirana did not help the cause of CSK either.
On the striker’s front, Vijay Shakar, Deepak Hooda and Rahul Tripathi were below the peer.
In Marco Jansen, PBKs have a very good versatile, while the bowling unit will be led by Arshdeep and Chahal.
Chennai Super Kings: Ms Dhoni (C & WK), Dewald Brevis, Devon Conway, Rahul Tripathi, Shaik Rasheed, Vansh Bedi, Andre Siddharth, Ayush Mhatre, Rachin Ravindra, Ravichandran Ashwin, Vijay Shankar, Sam Curran, Anshul Kamboj, Deepak Hooda, Jamie Overton, Kamlesh Nagarkoti, Ramakrishna Ghosh, Ravirand Jadeja, Shivam Dube, Khaleel Ahmed, Noor Ahmad, Mukesh Choudhary, Nathan Ellis, Shreyas Gopal, Matheesha Pathirana.
Punjab Kings: Shreyas Iyer (C), Yuzvendra Chahal, Arshdeep Singh, Marcus Stoinis, Nehal Wadhera, Glenn Maxwell, Vyshak Vijaykumar, Yash Thakur, Harpreet Brar Avinash, Suryansh Shedge, Musheer Khan, Harnoor Pannu, Aaron Hardie, Priyan Arya Azmatullah Omarzai.
(With the exception of the title, this story has not been published by NDTV staff and is published from a unionized flow.)
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