Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and Rajasthan Royals (RR) face off in match number 17 of the Indian Premier League (IPL) at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai on Wednesday.
CSK lost the tournament opener to Gujarat Titans by 5 wickets but bounced back at home with a 12-run win over Lucknow Super Giants. The four-time IPL winning team then defeated Mumbai Indians by 7 wickets.
RR, on the other hand, started their campaign with a 7-run win over Sunrisers Hyderabad but lost to Punjab Kings by 5 runs. The inaugural champions made a comeback by defeating Delhi Capitals by 57 runs.
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What: CSK vs RR, IPL 2023 Match 17
When: April 12, Wednesday
Where: MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai
start time: Indian time at 7:30 pm
Rajasthan Royals Team News
The in-form dynamic opening pair of Jos Buttler and Yashasvi Jaiswal will face a quality ‘spin test’ on a difficult Chepauk pitch. The England white-ball skipper and his young Indian partner have both scored two half-centuries each and that too at healthy strike-rates – 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.
The three experienced CSK campaigners have picked up 11 wickets between them in three matches, but more importantly, their economy rates have been very impressive.
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Moeen has bowled at an economy rate of 6.50 in the two matches while Jadeja (6.88) and Santner (6.75) have also conceded less than seven runs per over.
Moeen missed the last game due to food poisoning and is expected to replace Sisanda Magala, while Dwaine Pretorius will act as an all-rounder in case Ben Stokes is not fit.
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.
Chennai Super Kings Team News
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.
It promises to be an interesting battle tomorrow, with both sides boasting of a strong batting unit, and the onus will be on the bowlers to seize the moment.
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In skipper Sanju Samson and Shimron Hetmyer, the Royals have batsmen who can play big shots and score runs.
The pace unit of Trent Boult and Jason Holder looks better than CSK on paper, but how the respective attacks fare on a given day could determine the outcome of the game.
The MA Chidambaram Stadium wicket against Lucknow Super Giants offered bounce in the game and it remains to be seen whether similar conditions are offered or not. Still, an interesting battle is in store.
Full Squad:
Chennai Super Kings: Mahendra Singh Dhoni (c & wk), Devon Conway, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Ambati Rayudu, Moeen Ali, Ben Stokes, Ravindra Jadeja, Ajinkya Rahane, Sisanda Magala, Shivam Dube, Dwayne Pretorius, Ahya Mondal, Nishant Sindhu, Rajvardhan Hangerkar, Mitchell Santner , Subharnshu Senapati, Simarjit Singh, Mathisa Pathirana, Mahesh Thikshana, Bhagat Verma, Prashant Solanki, Sheikh Rasheed, Tushar Deshpande.
Rajasthan Royals: Jos Buttler, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Sanju Samson (c & wk), Dhruv Jorel, Riyan Parag, Shimron Hetmyer, R Ashwin, Jason Holder, Trent Boult, Sandeep Sharma, Yuzvendra Chahal, Navdeep Saini, M Ashwin, KM Asif, KC Cariappa, Donovan Ferreira, Devdutt Padikkal, Obey McCoy, Joe Root, Kuldeep Sen, Akash Vashist, Kuldip Yadav, Adam Zampa, Abdul Basith.
with PTI inputs
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