IPL 2018: Match 5, CSK vs KKR - Chennai Super Kings Predicted XI

Chennai Super Kings (CSK) announced their grand return to the Indian Premier League (IPL) in the opening game by defeating Mumbai Indians (MI). It was a sensational game as Dwayne Bravo snatched victory from the jaws of defeat with an extraordinary knock of 68 off 30 deliveries. They will face an upbeat Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) side who are also coming on a high after winning their game against RCB. However, CSK would be itching to go out and give their best as they will be playing in front of their home crowd after a long time.

Chennai couldn’t be overly happy about their win in the last game as they struggled for the most parts of it. There are flaws in the line-up and they will have to resurrect them soon enough before other teams pounce on it. They have an able captain in MS Dhoni and he would’ve realised the same. The finisher of the last match Kedar Jadhav sustained an injury and is ruled out of the action for some days and it will be interesting to see who will replace him.

KKR is one of the strongest teams in the tournament and the way they played against proves that they have the ability to get the better of the Men in Yellow. Dinesh Karthik led the side admirably well on his captaincy debut in the IPL and the momentum is with them. Both the teams would be looking to make it two out of two and stay on top of the table from the word go.

Here we bring to you the predicted XI of Chennai Super Kings:

Openers (Murali Vijay, Ambati Rayudu)

An injury to Jadhav means that CSK will have to change their batting order with Murali Vijay coming into the playing XI. Even the other player Dhruv Shorey is an opener as well hence Vijay might get the nod ahead of him given his experience of playing at the Chepauk Stadium. The right-hander is back with the franchise this year and the onus will be on him to provide a good start to the team. Vijay is not new to playing some heroic knocks for CSK as he has done it successfully before.

There will be a toss-up between Ambati Rayudu and Shane Watson to open the innings but given that the former was backed to do the job in the last game, he will continue at the same position. He will most likely play second fiddle to his partner and anchor the innings while churning out boundaries at crucial times. In the last game, Rayudu looked at ease while batting and scored 22 off 19 balls and would love to fare better this time around.

Middle Order (Suresh Raina, Shane Watson, MS Dhoni (c & wk))

Suresh Raina will continue to bat at number 3 for the team and will have to click at any cost. The batting line-up looks completely different when the stylish left-hander gets runs in the yellow jersey. He played an unnecessary shot in the last game very early in his innings and would be determined to do well in this game. There are no doubts whatsoever over his skills especially in the shortest format and a good knock should settle him to rule the tournament.

Shane Watson, unfortunately, will have to bat down the order following an injury to Jadhav and steady the ship. Again, there is still a possibility that he might open and Rayudu can come down the order. His must be feeling confident after an all-round performance in the last game. The veteran bowled extremely well to pick key wickets and then batted decently well in the chase. Though he would’ve loved some more runs under his belt, he can still make the difference at Chepauk on Tuesday.

The skipper MS Dhoni will come at 5 as usual and will look to get his eye in before going berserk. Though his form is being questioned in the format, he is still that most important player of the side in the yellow jersey. He was scalped by the newbie Mayank Markande in the last game. The test only gets tougher for him as he will be facing the likes of Piyush Chawla and Sunil Narine in this match.

All-Rounders (Dwayne Bravo, Ravindra Jadeja)

Surely, Dwayne Bravo should bat at 6 after what he did at the Wankhede Stadium. Nobody expected for him to do so well with the bat given his records over the last few years. But defying all the odds, the Caribbean cricketer just lit up the stage in his own way. His contribution with the ball is immense to the team as Bravo is the master of the death overs bowling. Yet another perfect outing for him must be enough for the returning franchise to register their second consecutive victory.

Ravindra Jadeja was completely off-colour in the first game and clearly, his bowling credentials have gone down considerably. He bowled only a solitary over and conceded 9 runs and could score only 12 runs with the bat. Chennai wicket is likely to suit his style of bowling and he should start performing soon as the in-form Jadeja would be a huge plus to CSK going ahead in the tournament.

Bowlers (Deepak Chahar, Harbhajan Singh, Mark Wood, Imran Tahir)

Deepak Chahar was a surprise pick in the last match and he didn’t disappoint his skipper at all. In the very first over, he kept Rohit Sharma at bay and swung the new cherry nicely. Dhoni used him in the powerplay itself and the youngster went on to concede only 14 runs and picked a crucial wicket of the dangerous Evin Lewis. He will have to keep performing in the same way as CSK are a little bit thin on pace bowling resources this season and Chahar has a great opportunity to press his case for all matches.

Harbhajan Singh did for CSK in the first match what he has been doing for MI for last 10 years. He bowled well and didn’t give away too many easy runs. He brings immense experience to the table and will be even more threatening with the bowl in Chennai where the pitch is on the slower side more often than not.

Mark Wood didn’t have a great day against the Men in Blue and went for 49 runs in his 4 overs. But he will still play as Dhoni doesn’t believe in making too many changes to the winning team which is a great chance for the England cricketer to come up with a better performance. If Wood lands his slower balls perfectly, he can create many problems to opposition batsmen on any given day.

Imran Tahir too struggled in the two overs he bowled but went on to take the important wicket of Ishan Kishan. The leg-spinner like him is what CSK needs and he will bowl better as the tournament progresses. He will definitely play in the game against KKR and would want to make the difference.

Here’s the CSK Predicted XI for the game against KKR

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