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.
RR –
Steve Smith (c), Ankit Rajpoot, Ben Stokes, Jofra Archer, Jos Buttler, Mahipal Lomror, Manan Vohra, Mayank Markande, Rahul Tewatia, Riyan Parag, Sanju Samson, Shashank Singh, Shreyas Gopal, Varun Aaron, Akash Singh, Anirudha Joshi, Anuj Rawat, Andrew Tye, David Miller, Jaydev Unadkat, Kartik Tyagi, Oshane Thomas, Robin Uthappa, Tom Curran, Yashasvi Jaiswal
Team News –
CSK –
– CSK are in a very bad position now after loosing their last game against DC. They are still placed in the bottom half of the table with 3 wins from 9 games.
– Shane Watson, Faf Du Plessis, Sam Curran and DJ Bravo/Imran Tahir will be their 4 foreign players.
– Sam Curran and Faf Du Plessis will open the innings.
Curran is now opening the Batting and this is a very good move by CSK. Faf is 3rd highest scorer this season and scored 58 last game.
– Shane Watson will bat 1 down. He batted 1 down last 2 games and has been hitting good for his 48 and 35.
– Ambati Rayudu will bat at 2 down. Rayudu is best player of spin in the CSK squad and played attacking 45 last game.
– Captain MS Dhoni will bat 3 down following Rayudu. Dhoni is not in his peak form this season and ia struggling to score runs.
– Ravindra Jadeja will do the late hitting for CSK. Jaddu can be promoted.
– Ravindra Jadeja, Piyush Chawla)Karn Sharma will be the spinners for CSK.
– Deepak Chahar, Sam Curran, Shardul Thakur and DJ Bravo(risky) will handle the pace attack. Thakur and Sam Curran will bowl in death.
RR –
– RR lost yet another game against RCB due to some tactical blunders by their captain and poor bowling at death.
– Steven Smith, Jos Buttler, Ben Stokes and Jofra Archer will be RR 4 foreign players.
– Robin Uthappa and Ben Stokes will open the innings. Robby finally opened last game and smashed 41 of just 22 balls while Stokes waa struggling at other end.
– Sanju Samson will bat in 1 down. Sanju was dealing only in 6s in 1st 2 games but failed completely in next games.
– Steven Smith will bat 2 down. Smith is one of the best white ball cricketer in world Cricket and after a poor run finally scored a 50 against RCB last game.
– Jos Buttler will bat 3 down. Buttler was demoted in middle order last game. He scored 24 however the opening slot suits him the best.
– Rahul Tewatia will bat next followed by Riyan Parag. Both of them smashed unbeaten 85 in win against SRH.
– Shreyas Gopal and Rahul Tewatia will bowl spin for Royals. Both are leg spinners.
– Jofra Archer, Jaydev Unadkat, Ben Stokes and Kartik Tyagi will lead the pace attack. Jofra and Unadkat will bowl in death.
Probable XI –
CSK –
Sam Curran, Faf Du Plessis, Shane Watson, Ambati Rayudu, MS Dhoni(C & wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, DJ Bravo/Imran Tahir, Deepak Chahar, Karn Sharma, Piyush Chawla.
RR –
Robin Uthappa, Ben Stokes, Sanju Samson, Steve Smith, Jos Buttler(wk), Riyan Parag, Rahul Tewatia, Shreyas Gopal, Jofra Archer, Jaydev Unadkat, Kartik Tyagi.
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
Head to Head –
Total games : 21
CSK Won : 14
RR Won : 09
Team Blueprint –
WK –
Jos Buttler ( Opener/3 down, international opener, 311 runs in 8 games IPL 2019 including 3 50+ scores, 70(44b) against MI, 24 last game )
Sanju Samson ( 1 down, SR of 214 this IPL, 74(32b), 85(42b) in 1st 2 games ,failed completely in next games )
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)
N Jagadeeshan ( 2 down/open, very good domestic record, scored 33 on his debut last 2nd game, dropped last game)
BAT –
Steve Smith ( 1 down, very consistent, 4000+ t20 runs, 2 50s in 1st 2 games, 57 runs last game)
Shane Watson( Opener, highly experienced, will play solely as a Batsman, 398 Runs in 17 games last season, attacking 83*, 50, 48, 35 last 4 of 5 games, Must have )
Faf Du Plessis(Open, international player, had a very good IPL with 396 Runs and scored 219 in 10 games in MSL 2019, 58 last game, 365 runs this season)
Ambati Rayudu ( 2 down, most imp player of CSK, 41, 45* last 2 game, Must have )
Robin Uthappa ( Open, excellent last game when opened, scored 41(22b), Must have )
David Miller( 2 down, 6000+ T20 runs including 3 100s , ignored by lot today, will not play unless there is any injury concerns)
Riyan Parag ( 3 down, young talent , can also bowl, 42*(26b) last 2nd game, good choice in case of top order failure)
Y Jaiswal ( Opener, young takent, highest scorer in u19 WC, 400 runs at average of 133, was dropped again last game )
ALL –
Ben Stokes( Open + Medium pacer, best Allrounder in world cricket, 681 runs + 26 Wickets in IPL, 41 last 2nd game, Must have )
R Tewatia ( Leggie, bowls with really good variations, 53(31b) with 7 sixes against KXIP game, 19R + 1w last game, Must have)
DJ Bravo ( Medium pacer , bats very low in IPL, best bowler for CSK, will Bowl in death, 1w last game, highly risky this game )
M Santner( Slow left arm, excellent option in this spin conditions, will likely miss out )
Ravindra Jadeja( Slow left arm + finisher, 16 wickets + 106 runs in 15 games last season for CSK, 111 overall Wickets, 33 runs of just 11balls last game)
Sam Curran( Left arm pacer + hard hitter of bowl, he can bat at any position, 9w this IPL, 1w last game )
BOWL –
Imran Tahir( Leggie, Purple cap holder with 26 Wickets last season, high chances of playing, Must have if plays )
Jofra Archer ( Right Arm fast, one of best bowlers in world cricket, 9 Wickets against aus recently in 6 games, 2w last 2nd game against DC, Must have will bowl in death )
Josh Hazelwood( Pacer, known for his swing early on, 4w in ODI series against Eng, can play)
Deepak Chahar( Right Arm Swing bowler, death bowler for CSK, 35 wickets in IPL career, 2w and economical last game)
Tom Curran ( Right Arm fast + hard hitter of ball, 153w + 900 runs in 123 t20 games, will not play)
Shreyas Gopal ( Leggie, best bowler of RR, 20 Wickets in 14 games last IPL, not in good form, 1w last game)
Jaydev Unadkat ( Left arm fast, known for his variations in death, experienced, 81 IPL Wickets, 2w last 2nd game)
Piyush Chawla( Leggie, 3rd highest wicket taker in IPL, 153w in 148 Innings, was dropped last game)
Karn Sharma( Leggie, can also bat, was very expensive last game , can be dropped)
Shardul Thakur( Pacer, raw pace, 9w last IPL, economy rate is very high close to 10, 1w last game)
C/VC Options –
CSK –
Sam Curran
Faf Du Plessis
Shane Watson
Ambati Rayudu
RR –
Jos Buttler
Ben Stokes
Steven Smith
Sanju Samson
