These are crucial times in the Indian Premier League, and Chennai Super Kings seems to have lost the momentum having suffered three defeats in its last four outings.
The reigning champion will be hoping to address its injury concerns and return to winning ways in the reverse clash against Punjab Kings at the HPCA Stadium on May 5.
Despite Shikhar Dhawan’s absence, Kings earned a well-deserved seven-wicket win against the same opponent earlier this week, and they will hope to ride on that momentum. Bowling coach Sunil Joshi said that PBKS plans to field an unchanged eleven, while changes are likely for CSK as injured Deepak Chahar is ruled out and concerns remain over the availability of Maheesh Theekshana.
However, CSK bowling consultant Eric Simons clarified that Tushar Deshpande, who was down with flu, has recovered and will be back in action.
An inconsistent middle-order has troubled CSK. The batting has so far revolved mostly around captain Ruturaj Gaikwad and the in-form Shivam Dube. However, as the race for the playoffs intensifies, expectations will be high from M.S. Dhoni, while the seasoned Ajinkya Rahane and Ravindra Jadeja need to step up. On a surface that might help the seamers, Kagiso Rabada will look to bowl a tight spell with the new ball alongside Arshdeep Singh. The host’s batting looks steady with Prabhsimran Singh back among runs and Jonny Bairstow in good form.
However, at the crucial junctures, Shashank Singh and Ashustosh Sharma need to keep the middle-order going.
Teams
Chennai Super Kings: Ruturaj Gaikwad (c), MS Dhoni (wk), Aravelly Avanish, Ajinkya Rahane, Shaik Rasheed, Moeen Ali, Shivam Dube, RS Hangargekar, Ravindra Jadeja, Ajay Jadav Mandal, Daryl Mitchell, Rachin Ravindra, Mitchell Santner, Nishant Sindhu, Deepak Chahar, Tushar Deshpande, Mukesh Choudhary, Mustafizur Rahman, Matheesha Pathirana, Simarjeet Singh, Prashant Solanki, Shardul Thakur, Maheesh Theekshana and Sameer Rizvi.
Punjab Kings: Shikhar Dhawan (c), Matthew Short, Jonny Bairstow (wk), Prabhsimran Singh (wk), Jitesh Sharma (wk), Sikandar Raza, Rishi Dhawan, Liam Livingstone, Atharva Taide, Arshdeep Singh, Nathan Ellis, Sam Curran, Kagiso Rabada, Harpreet Brar, Rahul Chahar, Harpreet Bhatia, Vidwath Kaverappa, Shivam Singh, Harshal Patel, Chris Woakes, Ashutosh Sharma, Vishwanath Pratap Singh, Shashank Singh, Tanay Thyagarajan, Prince Choudhary, Rilee Rossouw.
Match starts: 3.30 PM.
