Chennai Super Kings, who could score just one point in the last three matches, would like to return to winning ways by defeating Mumbai Indians in the Indian Premier League match on Saturday, although Mumbai’s spirits are high and it is also its favorite ground.
Five-time champions Mumbai have won the last two matches at the MA Chidambaram Stadium. He defeated Chennai here in 2019 and will play the arch-rivals four-time champion team here after almost four years.
Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s Chennai team’s last match against Lucknow Supergiants was rained out after they had lost their previous two matches. Chennai, who faced defeat on the last ball against Punjab Kings on April 30, hopes that this time it will not disappoint its visitors.
Devon Conway (414 runs) and Ruturaj Gaikwad (354 runs) got the team off to a good start but the middle order could not capitalise. Experienced Ajinkya Rahane and youngster Shivam Dubey have scored runs but Ambati Rayudu and Moeen Ali’s bats have been more or less silent.
Dhoni, who has dropped way down the order, has played some good shots but his fans are wondering why he is sending out-of-form Rayudu and Ravindra Jadeja to bat ahead of him. Chennai defeated Mumbai in the first match on the basis of Rahane’s brilliant batting and Rahane would like to repeat that performance once again.
Deepak Chahar’s return
The return of Deepak Chahar has strengthened the bowling but Tushar Deshpande (17 wickets, economy rate 12.11) has given away a lot of runs. Jadeja has bowled well but could not do anything amazing with the bat.
There is talk of dropping all-rounder Mitchell Santner but it remains to be seen whether he can replace Moeen or Mahish Teekshana. On the other hand, after a slow start, Mumbai Indians have found their rhythm and are chasing a big target.
However, the failure of the bowlers to contain the opposition batsmen has added to the woes of skipper Rohit Sharma. Experienced Jofra Archer has failed to pick up wickets. The Mumbai team management will be happy to have Suryakumar Yadav and Ishan Kishan back in form. Tim David and Tilak Verma have played the role of finishers well.
Teams:
Mumbai Indians: Rohit Sharma (c), Suryakumar Yadav, Tim David, Dewald Brewis, Tilak Verma, Ishan Kishan (wk), Tristan Stubbs, Vishnu Vinod, Cameron Green, Arjun Tendulkar, Ramandeep Singh, Shams Mulani, Riley Meredith, Nehal Wadhera, Hrithik Shokeen , Arshad Khan, Duane Jansen, Piyush Chawla, Kumar Kartikeya, Raghav Goyal, Jofra Archer, Jason Behrendorff, Akash Madhwal.
Chennai Super Kings: MS Dhoni (Captain), Devon Conway, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Ambati Rayudu, Subhranshu Senapati, Moeen Ali, Shivam Dube, Rajvardhan Hangergekar, Dwayne Pretorius, Mitchell Santner, Ravindra Jadeja, Tushar Deshpande, Mathisha Pathirana, Simarjit Singh, Deepak Chahar, Prashant Solanki , Mahesh Tikshna, Ajinkya Rahane, Ben Stokes, Sheikh Rashid, Nishant Sindhu, Sisanda Magala, Ajay Mandal, Bhagat Verma, Akash Singh.
match time: From 3.30 pm.
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