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Both have scored a few fifties and that too at a healthy strike rate – 180.95 for Buttler and 164.47 for Jaiswal.
But of the three matches the Royals have played so far, two were in Guwahati, which had the flattest batting deck of all the venues. The Hyderabad pitch was also batsmen friendly.
And, suddenly, they come to Chennai where the ball can grip and slow down as the match progresses. Toss is always an important factor in Chennai as chasing anything above 170 to 175 can be a risky proposition.
Especially when Moeen Ali, Ravindra Jadeja and Mitchell Santner are working at Chepauk and can bowl 10 if not 12 overs between them. Matches can be won and lost there.
But the Royals spinners are by no means to be taken lightly as the shrewd ‘cricket scientist’ Ravichandran Ashwin has played all his cricket at this ground and the wily Yuzvendra Chahal can dismiss any batsman on any given day. Add another Tamil Nadu spinner Murugan Ashwin to the mix and CSK will have their own set of challenges too.
However, CSK will miss Deepak Chahar, who is expected to be ruled out of the tournament due to a recurrence of his left hamstring injury.
Whether Dhoni prefers the erratic but fast bowler Rajvardhan Hangergekar or the aggressive Simarjeet Singh will be the big question.
On the batting front, the vastly experienced Ajinkya Rahane showed that he too can score quick runs in his CSK debut as the team did well with spinners Jadeja and Santner.
Add Ruturaj Gaikwad’s good run at the top of the order and CSK have a formidable batting line-up. But they will be up against an equally accomplished Royals team.
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