In yet another reverse fixture in IPL 2024, Punjab Kings will be taking on Chennai Super Kings in Dharamshala on Sunday. The last time the two sides faced each other, Punjab took away a convincing seven-wicket win in Chennai.
While the Super Kings have been plagued with injury concerns and unavailability of certain players, Punjab—who have the momentum on their side after two wins on the trot—including record 262-run chase against Kolkata Knight Riders—are likely to go in with an unchanged XI for this game.
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Another important aspect of CSK’s mixed run in this edition has been their batting. While the new skipper Ruturaj Gaikwad has been doing the bulk of scoring (509 runs in 10 innings) and Shivam Dube chipping in with some quick-fire scores, no other batter has really made any significant contribution. This was evident in the side’s last match against PBKS where they failed to put up a big total despite Gaikwad’s 48-ball 62.
Jonny Bairstow’s come-back-to-form century and few other innings have provided some balance to Punjab’s batting order. Punjab had become quite dependent on Shashank Singh and Ashutosh Sharma especially during the chase in the initial stage of the tournament. But Bairstow’s contributions have made things easier for the middle-order.
The race to playoffs has also intensified as teams reach the business end. CSK have five wins and 10 points and are place at number five on the points table, while PBKS who have managed four wins from 10 games are lingering at number seven. Nevertheless, they are in no way out of the playoffs race.
CSK bowling consultant Eric Simmons is well aware of the side’s position in the points table. He admitted that every game is a crucial going forward at the pre-match press conference.
“All the games from here on are going to be important. But when you look at the table, you understand where we stand. We would only concentrate on what’s coming up next. So that’s the way we’ll approach.”
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Punjab Spin Bowling Coach Sunil Joshi wants his side to concentrate more on the upcoming fixtures rather than the points table and the playoffs scenarios.
“The team conversations that we have had, our approach is to put in the best effort and to play to win the game. The table calculations will come on it’s own. We do not see that part very closely. What we look at is what are the areas we can do better, what we have not done over the past few games, what best we can do and how we can improve as a team. That is the conversation we have with the players,” he said.
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Chennai Super Kings Team News
Deepak Chahar, who had missed two games with a niggle earlier in this season, bowled just two balls on Wednesday evening against Punjab Kings before pulling up and leaving the field. He has been ruled out of the reverse fixture as well. There is no clarity whether Pathirana and Theekshana’s availability either.
“Deepak pulled up an injury in the last game and the decision on his availability for the rest of the season will be made by the medical staff. He hasn’t travelled to Dharamshala with us. That’s not really a great news for us. Two of our players (Pathirana and Theekshana) have gone back to sort their visa applications and stuff like that. Tushar Deshpande seems fine now and hopefully, he will be available for the game,” Simmons confirmed.
Punjab Kings Team News
Punjab Kings’ regular skipper Shikhar Dhawan is yet to recover fully and is likely to be available only for the last two games. He won’t be a part of the XI for the matches against CSK and RCB.
“Dhawan’s rehabilitation is on track. He is doing well. He is not available for the next game. Hopefully, he will be back for the final two games,” Joshi confirmed.
“Shikhar was also injured last year. He was playing well but Sam had to come up as captain because of his injury. Sam has come up as a leader yet again and he has stepped up with the team,” he added.
Match Details
Match: Punjab Kings vs Chennai Super Kings
Date: May 5
Time: 15:30 IST
Venue: Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association Stadium, Dharamsala
SQUADS
Chennai Super Kings: Ajinkya Rahane, Ruturaj Gaikwad(c), Daryl Mitchell, Moeen Ali, Shivam Dube, Ravindra Jadeja, MS Dhoni(w), Shardul Thakur, Deepak Chahar, Richard Gleeson, Mustafizur Rahman, Sameer Rizvi, Mukesh Choudhary, Simarjeet Singh, Shaik Rasheed, Prashant Solanki, Mitchell Santner, Rachin Ravindra, Tushar Deshpande, Ajay Jadav Mandal, RS Hangargekar, Matheesha Pathirana, Maheesh Theekshana, Nishant Sindhu, Aravelly Avanish
Punjab Kings: Jonny Bairstow, Sam Curran(c), Rilee Rossouw, Shashank Singh, Jitesh Sharma(w), Ashutosh Sharma, Harpreet Brar, Harshal Patel, Kagiso Rabada, Rahul Chahar, Arshdeep Singh, Prabhsimran Singh, Liam Livingstone, Harpreet Singh Bhatia, Rishi Dhawan, Vidhwath Kaverappa, Shikhar Dhawan, Chris Woakes, Tanay Thyagarajan, Atharva Taide, Nathan Ellis, Shivam Singh, Prince Choudhary, Vishwanath Singh