Preview,
CSK is the second most successful side in the history of IPL. Whereas DC under ponting has been phenomenal, they finished at last in 2018, 3rd in 2019 and runners up in 2020 respectively, DC has been improving constantly, CSK finished on 7th position on the points table and for the first time in the history of IPL they didn't qualify last year, they will be aiming to come back stronger. Rishab Pant has been named a new captain for the DC in the absence of Shreyas Iyer. He will be facing off his idol who is the most experienced captain.
IPL Season: 14
Chennai Super Kings will take on Delhi Capitals.
Venue and Time: Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai at 7.30 PM (IST)
Team news,
Chennai Super Kings: After a poor tournament last season where they finished at 7, CSK will be expected to bounce back this time around who are led by a skipper who knows what it takes to qualify for. The precocious talent Ruturaj Gaikwad ended up last season by getting 3 consecutive fifties, he is the highest scorer of CSK as an uncapped Indian player with a score of 72*. Senior player Sir Jadeja is coming back after an injury. CSK bought Moeen Ali in the auction that will again add some balance to the batting line up. CSK is more experienced and looks stronger on paper than DC. With the likes of Shardul Thakur, Deepak Chahar, Sam Curran, Moeen Ali, Jadeja, Dwayne Bravo the bowling side looks solid. (South African pacer Lungi Ngidi will miss the match due to quarantine), MS has plenty of options to use. When it comes to the opening pair, it can remain the same with (Ruturaj Gaikwad and Faf du Plessis). The middle-order has some powerful hitters. Interesting to see where would MS bat since they have plenty of all-rounders and some of them are in really good form, Sam Curran is surely one of them.
Delhi Capitals: The runners up last year have constantly been improving and impressed everyone. Their Skipper Shreyas Iyer who has been ruled out from the IPL due to a shoulder injury will be missed by DC fans. Young wicket-keeper Rishab Pant will be leading the side with the support of Shikhar Dhawan, Steven Smith, R Ashwin who have been captains earlier in the IPL. DC have so many power hitters on their side, it will be interesting to see who will open their side since Stoinis proved himself to be a perfect one that DC needed last year in a failure of Prithvi Shaw, however, Prithvi had a terrific domestic season recently and henceforth he and Shikar can be expected to open the innings. Ajinkya Rahane who has 3933 runs on his name should be at 3rd, but adding Steve Smith to the squad will be interesting to see who will be picked. DC has the firepower in the middle as well, with the likes of Rishab Pant, Sam billings, Shimron Hetmyer, Marcus Stoinis the middle order looks pretty good. When it comes to the bowling department, they have successful bowlers Amit Mishra, R Ashwin who will support the other bowlers (Ishant Sharma, Umesh Yadav, Praveen Dubey Chris Woaks etc). DC will miss their key bowlers Rabada and Nortje due to the quarantine rules and Axar Patel will be missed since he was tested positive earlier.
Probable playing 11 (CSK): R Gaikwad, Faf du Plessis, Suresh Raina, Sam Curran, R Jadeja, Mooen Ali, MS Dhoni (c), K Gowtham Dwayne Bravo, Shardul Thakur, Deepak Chahar.
Probable playing 11 (DC): P Shaw, A Dhawan, Ajinkya Rahane, Rishab Pant (c), Marcus Stonis, Shimron Hetmyer, Tom Curran, Chris Woaks, R Ashwin, Ishant Sharma, Umesh Yadav.
Key players to watch out for:
Chennai Super Kings: Ruturaj Gaikwad, Faf du Plessis, R Jadeja, Sam Curran.
Delhi Capitals: S Dhawan, Rishab Pant, R Ashwin, Marcus Stoinis.
Faceoffs today,
Pant vs Jadeja
Shaw vs Chahar
Woaks vs Gaikwad
Stoinis vs Curran
Dhoni vs Ashwin
Stats :
Head to head record belongs to CSK with 15 wins and 9 losses.
Dhoni is the highest scorer for CSK against DC with 547 runs.
Shikhar Dhawan is the highest scorer for DC against CSK with 777 runs
Something you should know about,
Deepak Chahar has dismissed Prithvi Shaw 5 times on 6 occasions. All of them came in the powerplay. Prithvi faced 39 balls against Chahar and scored 38 runs at a strike rate of 97.44.
MS Dhoni holds the most sixes hitter in the last 4 overs with 141 sixes on his name.
Amit Mishra is the only Bowler to pick 3 hat-tricks in the history of IPL
Dhoni holds the record of most scoring runs against DC with 90 runs.
Sam Curran was one of the most economical bowlers in the powerplay last year with an economy of 6.88, he was the only bowler to bowl under 7 economy (minimum 10 overs bowled list)
Pitch report: Wankhede is always known for the high scoring game. Should be as usual a flat wicket, pacer will get a swing early in the powerplay for like initial 3 overs. We expect the first innings total to be 165-180+.
Dream 11 for today's match :
Predictions: High humidity again, dew factor and a chasing may be the idea. Should be good to win the toss and chase anything below 165-170 for both teams. We will again go with the chasing team.
Comments