Dubai: Chennai Super Kings will be a strong contender for a place in the top two when they take on Punjab Kings in the Indian Premier League here on Thursday. The Mahendra Singh Dhoni-led side, despite two straight defeats before the final round-robin match, will keep their nose up against an inconsistent outfit from Punjab, who are out of the race for the play-offs.
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The three-time champions, who made a comeback from a forgotten IPL-2020 and became the first team to make it to the play-offs this season, have been in good form in the second leg and are among the teams to beat. The Super Kings batsmen are in great form, especially the stylish Ruturaj Gaikwad, and they will be eager to continue the good work. Gaikwad and veteran South African Faf du Plessis have been good at the top while Ambati Rayudu has shown up in the middle order.
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Moeen Ali has done what has been asked of him but the struggles of Suresh Raina (who missed the Delhi Capitals game) and skipper Dhoni are worrying signs for CSK to move into the next leg. Ravindra Jadeja has outlived his value as an all-rounder from time to time, making significant contributions and it will be crucial if the Super Kings are to go all the way.
However, the bowlers did not find happiness against Rajasthan as Yashasvi Jaiswal and Shivam Dube launched an all-round attack. They will be eager to make amends. Deepak Chahar, with 12 wickets so far, has been more than a handful for the opposition batsmen, but he comes out of the boil when pressed into the attack in the later stages. Shardul Thakur has been brilliant with 15 wickets, which is the best for a CSK bowler in IPL-2021 and he would like to do well in the business end. Josh Hazlewood and Dwayne Bravo have made good use of their skills like Jadeja and Ali. All-rounder Sam Curran has been ruled out of the rest of the tournament due to injury, but CSK will not be much worried as they have Bravo, who is doing well.
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This has been a cause of dissonance for the KL Rahul-led Punjab team which are sixth in the table with 10 points. The skipper leads the season charts with 528 runs while his Karnataka teammate Mayank Agarwal has 429 runs but others haven’t contributed much which is one of the reasons for Punjab Kings’ woes. On the bowling front, Mohammed Shami (18 wickets from 13 matches) and Arshdeep Singh (16 wickets) have been the stars, while Ravi Bishnoi, who was surprisingly benched on occasions, had his moments.
Rahul and Co may have to work hard against CSK and a win could put them in contention for a top-four spot, even if only mathematically. Super Kings, on the other hand, will be keen to finish the league stage with a win and enter the play-offs with confidence. A defeat could potentially jeopardize CSK’s chances of finishing in the top two and Dhoni is aware of that.
What: Chennai Super Kings vs Punjab Kings
When: October 7, 2021 (Thursday)
where: Dubai International Stadium, Dubai
start time: 3:30 PM IS
Chennai Super Kings: Mahendra Singh Dhoni (Captain), Suresh Raina, Ambati Rayudu, KM Asif, Deepak Chahar, Dwayne Bravo, Faf du Plessis, Imran Tahir, N Jagadeesan, Karn Sharma, Lungi Ngidi, Mitchell Santner, Ravindra Jadeja, Ruturaj Gaikwad , Shardul Thakur, R Sai Kishore, Moeen Ali, K Gautam, Cheteshwar Pujara, Harishankar Reddy, Bhagat Verma, C Hari Nishant.
Punjab Kings: KL Rahul (captain), Mayank Agarwal, Arshdeep Singh, Ishan Porel, Shahrukh Khan, Mohammed Shami, Nathan Ellis, Adil Rashid, Murugan Ashwin, Harpreet Brar, Moises Henriques, Chris Jordan, Aiden Markram, Mandeep Singh, Darsan Nalkande , Prabhsimran Singh, Ravi BIshnoi, Utkarsh Singh, Fabian Allen, Saurabh Kumar, Jalaj Saxena.
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