The match 18 of Indian Premier League (IPL) 2019 will be going to take place between Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) at the M.A. Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai on Saturday, April 6.
Despite a fine start to their campaign, the defending champions lost the plot against Mumbai, thanks to Hardik Pandya’s all-round effort. Chennai may have won their first three matches, but the yellow brigade looked helpless in their last game and skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni will certainly try to bounce back against Punjab at home.
On the other hand, Punjab have also performed decently so far having won three of their four affairs. But skipper Ravichandran Ashwin must be knowing that Chennai is an extremely difficult team to beat at home.
The atmosphere won’t be a pleasant one for the players by any means with the temperature hovering in the high 30s. It will also be humid with the percentages around 75. Players need to stay hydrated during the course of the game. The pitch is expected to provide enough spin and hence, picking more spinners than pacers is advisable for the next game and also because dew isn’t expected to play a part.
Dwayne Bravo developed a hamstring injury in the last match and may not play.
CSK Team (from): M.S. Dhoni (Captain/wicket-keeper), Suresh Raina, Ambati Rayudu, Shane Watson, Faf du Plessis, Murali Vijay, Kedar Jadhav, Sam Billings, Ravindra Jadeja, Dhruv Shorey, Chaitanya Bishnoi, Rituraj Gaikwad, Dwayne Bravo, Karn Sharma, Imran Tahir, Harbhajan Singh, Mitchell Santner, Shardul Thakur, Mohit Sharma, K.M. Asif, Deepak Chahar, N. Jagadeesan, Scott Kuggeleign.
Probable XI: Ambati Rayudu, Faf du Plessis, Suresh Raina, Kedar Jadhav, MS Dhoni (c)(wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Deepak Chahar, Shardul Thakur, Harbhajan Singh, Imran Tahir, Scott Kuggelejin
If Chris Gayle comes in then Mandeep Singh is likely to face the axe.
KXIP Team (From): Lokesh Rahul (wicket-keeper), Chris Gayle, Mayank Agarwal, Sarfaraz Khan, David Miller, Mandeep Singh, Hardus Viljoen, Ravichandran Ashwin (Captain), Varun Chakravarthy, Mohammed Shami, Andrew Tye, Karun Nair, Sam Curran, Simran Singh, Nicholas Pooran, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Murugan Ashwin, Ankit Rajpoot, Arshdeep Singh, Darshan Nalkande, Agnivesh Ayachi, Harpreet Brar
Probable XI: KL Rahul (wk), Sam Curran, Mayank Agarwal, Sarfaraz Khan, David Miller, Mandeep Singh/Chris Gayle, Hardus Viljoen, Ravichandran Ashwin, Varun Chakravarthy, Murugan Ashwin, Mohammed Shami
Wicketkeeper: In wicketkeeping, both KL Rahul and MS Dhoni are right picks.
Batsmen: For CSK, Faf du Plessis and Suresh Raina are the two in-form batsmen while for KXIP, Chris Gayle (if playing) and David Miller are expected to do the destruction.
All-rounders: Ravindra Jadeja and Deepak Chahar from CSK are the must-have all-rounders while KXIP will feature Sam Curran and Hardus Viljoen as their prime all-rounders.
Bowlers: For CSK, Harbhajan Singh, Imran Tahir, Scott Kuggelejin are the top picks among bowlers while for KXIP Murugan Ashwin, Mohammed Shami and Ravichandran Ashwin should be the key bowlers.
Captain and Vice Captain: Faf du Plessis, Suresh Raina, David Miller and Chris Gayle (if playing) are the prime choices for Dream 11 captains.
IPL 2019, CSK vs KXIP preview: Chennai look to bounce back against Punjab
Chris Gayle (if playing) (vc), KL Rahul, Faf du Plessis (c), Suresh Raina, MS Dhoni (wk), Kedar Jadhav, David Miller, Ravi Ashwin, Imran Tahir, Sam Curran, Scott Kuggelejin
KL Rahul (c), Faf du Plessis (vc), Suresh Raina, MS Dhoni (wk), Kedar Jadhav, David Miller, Ravindra Jadeja, Ravi Ashwin, Imran Tahir, Sam Curran, Scott Kuggelejin