Squads –
CSK –
MS Dhoni (C & wk), Imran Tahir, Deepak Chahar, Faf du Plessis, Shardul Thakur, Mitchell Santner, Dwayne Bravo, Josh Hazlewood, Kedar Jadhav, Karn Sharma, Piyush Chawla, Ambati Rayudu, Lungi Ngidi, Sam Curran, Monu Kumar, Shane Watson, Sai Kishore, Narayan Jagadeesan, Ruturaj Gaikwad, KM Asif, Ravindra Jadeja, Murali Vijay
KXIP –
KL Rahul (c & wk), Arshdeep Singh, Chris Gayle, Darshan Nalkande, Krishnappa Gowtham, Hardus Viljoen, Harpreet Brar, Jagadeesha Suchith, Karun Nair, Mandeep Singh, Mayank Agarwal, Mohammed Shami, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Murugan Ashwin, Nicholas Pooran, Sarfaraz Khan, Chris Jordan, Deepak Hooda, Glenn Maxwell, Ishan Porel, James Neesham, Prabhsimran Singh, Ravi Bishnoi, Sheldon Cottrell, Tajinder Dhillon
Team News –
CSK –
– CSK won their last game against KKR chasing a target of 173 . Ruturaj scored yet another 50 while Jaddu finished the game in style with 2 sixes of last 2 balls.
– Faf Du Plessis/Shane Watson, Sam Curran, Imran Tahir/M Santner and Lungi Ngidi will be their 4 foreign players.
– Ruturaj Gaikwad and Faf Du Plessis/ Shane Watson will open the innings. Gaikwad showed his class with a excellent 65 and 72 in last 2 games against RCB and KKR.
– N Jagadeeshan will bat 1 down. He got a chance to play after being dropped but had yet another failure and was out on duck against MI.
– Ambati Rayudu will bat at 2 down. Rayudu is best player of spin in the CSK squad and after some poor performance early on scored 38 and 39 in last 2 games.
– Captain MS Dhoni will bat 3 down following Rayudu. Dhoni is not in his peak form this season and is struggling to score runs.
– Ravindra Jadeja will do the late hitting for CSK along with Sam Curran. jaddu Scored 11 ball 31 last game.
– Ravindra Jadeja and Imran Tahir/Mitchell Santner will be the spinners for CSK.
– Deepak Chahar, Lungi Ngidi, Sam Curran, KM Asif/Shardul Thakur will handle the pace attack. Chahar and Sam Curran will bowl in death.
KXIP –
– Kings XI are at the 5th position now with back to back 5 wins. They need to win this game and wait for results of other teams to go in their favour.
– Chris Gayle, Nicolas Pooran, Glenn Maxwell and Chris Jordan will be their likely 4 foreign players to start.
– Rahul will open with Mayank Agrawal/Mandeep Singh. Rahul is the highest scorer this season but is scoring with a less strike rate recently. Mayank has been very fluent with his shots and is 4th highest scorer this season but didn’t played last 3 games. Mandeep played a brilliant knock of 66 and remained not out last 2nd game.
– Chris Gayle will bat 1 down. Gayle after 2 back to back 50s scored 99 runs last game with 8 massive sixes.
– Nicolas Pooran will bat at 2 down. He is a exciting talent and has the ability to clear the fence with ease. He has been in brilliant touch recently.
– Glenn Maxwell will bat 3 down. Deepak Hooda will bat next. Hooda played a brilliant cameo of 23 against MI. Maxxi is struggling to score runs.
– Ravi Bishnoi and Murugan Ashwin will bowl 8 overs of leg spin. Both are brilliant spinners and must have choice.
– Mohammad Shami, Arshdeep Singh and Chris Jordan will lead the pace attack. Jordan is a very good death bowler. Jordan took 2 and Shami 3 Wickets last 2nd game.
Probable XI –
CSK –
Ruturaj Gaikwad, Faf Du Plessis/Shane Watson, N Jagadeeshan, Ambati Rayudu, MS Dhoni(C & wk), Sam Curran, Ravindra Jadeja, Imran Tahir/Santner, Deepak Chahar, Lungi Ngidi, Shardul Tahkur/KM Asif
KXIP –
KL Rahul(c), Mayank Agrawal/Mandeep Singh, Chris Gayle, Nicolas Pooran, Glenn Maxwell, Deepak Hooda/Mandeep Singh, Chris Jordan, Arshdeep Singh, Mohammad Shami, Ravi Bishnoi, Murugan Ashwin
Pitch Report –
Sheikh Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi
Pitches at Abu Dhabi are generally at the slower side giving assistance to spin more than pace in 2nd innings.
Average Score : 168
Team Blueprint –
WK –
MS Dhoni ( Middle order, best finisher in world cricket, averaging 83 last IPL with 416 runs, Must have especially in 2nd innings, his Batting position is not fixed)
L Rahul( Opener + wk, currently best T20 Batsman in world cricket, 641 runs in 13 games this IPL, Must C/VC)
N Pooran( 2 down, very hard hitting batsman, can be promoted any day, 53(28b), 32 last 2 of 3 games, Must have)
N Jagadeeshan ( 2 down/open, very good domestic record, scored 33 on his debut last against RCB)
BAT –
Shane Watson( Opener, highly experienced, will play solely as a Batsman, 398 Runs in 17 games last season, attacking 83*, 50, 48, 35, 14 last 5 of 6 games)
Faf Du Plessis(Open, international player, had a very good IPL with 396 Runs and scored 219 in 10 games in MSL 2019, 401 runs this season, didn’t played last game)
Chris Gayle( 1 down, no intro needed, 53(45b),24(21b),29(13b), 51(29b), 99 last 5 game, Must have)
Mayank Agrawal(Open, SR of 142 last IPL , excellent player of spin, 398 runs in 10 games this tournament, Must have if plays )
Mandeep Singh( 3 down/open, very good Syed Mushtaq trophy with 3 50+ scores striking at 155, 66* last 2nd game, Must have but if opens)
Ambati Rayudu ( 2 down, most imp player of CSK, 39(27b), 38(20b) last 2 games, Must have )
Ruturaj Gaikwad ( Opener, young talent, excellent last 2 games with back to back 50+ scores, Must have)
Deepak Hooda ( Lower middle order+ part time off spin, decent option at 8cr)
Sarfaraz ( middle order, can be used as a floater for hitting, very good domestic form)
ALL –
Glenn Maxwell ( 3 down+ 3-4 overs of off spin, century against England recently, have completely failed this IPL, 1w last 2nd game )
Santner( Slow left arm, excellent option in this spin conditions, 1w last 2nd game)
Ravindra Jadeja( Slow left arm + finisher, 16 wickets + 106 runs in 15 games last season for CSK, 111 overall Wickets, 31(11b) + 1w last game, Must )
Sam Curran( middle ,Left arm pacer + hard hitter of bowl, he can bat at any position, 12w this IPL, 3w last 2nd game, Must have choice )
Jimmy Neesham ( Middle order + Medium pacer, hard hitter of ball, failed with both bat and bowl this IPL, 1w last game played)
BOWL –
Imran Tahir( Leggie, Purple cap holder with 26 Wickets last season, dropped last game, Must have )
Josh Hazelwood( Pacer, known for his swing early on, 4w in ODI series against Eng)
S Cottrell ( Left arm fast, known for his pace and bounce, 6 Wickets in 6 games this IPL, not a good death bowler )
M Shami ( Right Arm fast, hit the deck bowler, Wicket taker, 19 Wickets last IPL, 21 Wickets in 12 games, Must have)
Chris Jordan ( Right Arm Medium Fast, best death bowler currently in world cricket, 2w and bowled with good economy last game )
Ishan Porel ( Medium pacer, 13 t20 Wickets in 13 games, u19 player, got good pace)
Ravi Bishnoi( Leggie, bowls fast spin, excellent domestic record, 2w last 2nd game )
Murugan Ashwin ( Leggie, good bowler, bowls most if overs as googly, 1w last game )
Arshdeep Singh( Left arm pacer, bowling brilliantly in last 4 games, 3w last 2nd game, very expensive last game)
Deepak Chahar( Right Arm Swing bowler, death bowler for CSK, 3w and was economical last 2nd game, wicketless last game )
Piyush Chawla( Leggie, 3rd highest wicket taker in IPL, 153w in 148 Innings, will likely sit out this game)
Karn Sharma( Leggie, can also bat, was very expensive last game , can be dropped this game)
Shardul Thakur( Pacer, raw pace, 9w last IPL, economy rate is very high close to 10, will bowl in death if plays)
C/VC Options –
CSK –
Sam Curran
Faf Du Plessis
Ambati Rayudu
KXIP –
KL Rahul
Mayank Agrawal
Chris Gayle
Nicolas Pooran