Chennai Super Kings, which is struggling with a lack of consistency in its performance, will be eyeing a united performance in all departments of the game when it faces Punjab Kings on Wednesday. In the last match, Punjab Kings had registered the biggest win while chasing the target by scoring 262 runs against KKR.
The match will be played in Chepauk
In such a situation, Chennai will have to be careful against Punjab, who is at number eight in the points table, because another defeat from here can harm its hopes of reaching the playoffs. The match will be played at the Chepauk Stadium, which is the home of Super Kings. Here the bowlers get help from the pitch and the hosts registered an easy 78-run win over Sunrisers in the last match.
There was no dew in Chennai that night and after the batsmen scored over 200, the Super Kings bowlers destroyed the strong Sunrisers batting unit with their accurate and varied bowling.
Gaikwad is looking in great form
Chennai will have to repeat this performance against Punjab and all eyes will be on captain Ruturaj Gaikwad who has returned to form. Gaikwad has scored 108 and 98 in his last two innings and New Zealand's Daryl Mitchell has also found his rhythm at the right time by scoring 52 runs in 32 balls against Hyderabad.
However, the real storm in the batting order of Super Kings is Shivam Dubey, who has destroyed the opposition bowlers by coming as an impact player. Dubey, a left-handed batsman who plays well against spin, has now added another dimension to his batting by performing effectively against fast bowlers in the current season.
Rahane's bat is not working
The opening pair of Super Kings remains unstable. Gaikwad has performed well but now both the dropped Rachin Ravindra and Ajinkya Rahane have not been able to support their captain. As an opening batsman, Rahane scored 05, 36, 01, and 09 in the last four innings which is not in line with his experience and skill. However, there is every possibility that the team will give him more opportunities.
Batting coach Michael Hussey had also said that this 35-year-old batsman is close to playing a big innings. On the other hand, the Punjab Kings team will be eager to continue the momentum after achieving the record target and moving ahead from the current eighth position in the points table. For this, the team once again expects a united performance from the batsmen.
The responsibility will once again be on the shoulders of Jonny Bairstow, Shashank Singh, and Prabhsimran Singh, who scored centuries against Knight Riders. However, the team would like a more impressive performance from wicketkeeper-batsman Jitesh Sharma.
Punjab Kings bowling attack
Kagiso looks a bit weak despite the presence of experienced bowlers like Rabada, Harshal Patel, Arshdeep Singh, and Sam Curran. The visiting team also needs a better performance from its spinners Harpreet Brar and Rahul Chahar as they have taken only seven wickets this season.
Chennai super kings
Ruturaj Gaikwad (captain), Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Ajinkya Rahane, Sheikh Rashid, Moeen Ali, Shivam Dubey, RS Hangarkar, Ravindra Jadeja, Ajay Jadav, Daryl Mitchell, Rachin Ravindra, Mitchell Santner, Nishant Sindhu, Deepak Chahar, Tushar Deshpande, Mukesh Chaudhary, Mustafizur Rahman, Mathisha Pathirana, Simarjeet Singh, Prashant Solanki, Shardul Thakur, Mahesh Teekshana and Sameer Rizvi.
Punjab kings
Shikhar Dhawan (captain), Matthew Short, Jonny Bairstow, Prabhsimran Singh, Jitesh Sharma, Sikandar Raza, Rishi Dhawan, Liam Livingstone, Atharva Taide, Arshdeep Singh, Nathan Ellis, Sam Curran, Kagiso Rabada, Harpreet Brar, Rahul Chahar, Harpreet Bhatia, Vidwath Kawerappa, Shivam Singh, Harshal Patel, Chris Woakes, Ashutosh Sharma, Vishwanath Pratap Singh, Shashank Singh, Tanay Thiagarajan, Prince Choudhary and Riley Rossouw.
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