Rajasthan Royals come out to the middle for the first time this tournament to play it out against the team which has already won their first game against the defending champions!
RR would be missing their most crucial all rounder, Ben Stokes, who is set to miss out on the first half of the tournament, though is practicing in Christchurch with the aim to play in the IPL in the latter half of the season. All their batting lies in the experience of Buttler, Smith, Samson and Uthappa. Yashaswi Jaiswal is a promising youngster and will be looking for a good debut season in IPL. Buttler, their most explosive opener also won’t be available for the first game due to quarantine restrictions as he flew to UAE later. Even after investing their money in 11 bowlers for their team, their bowling attack looks weak with Shreyas Gopal the only one who impressed in the last season. Riyan Parag showed his abilities of his aggression last year and he would be looking to do it even better this time with the absence of Stokes. Jofra Archer would be all set to go with his sheer pace and with the excellent form he was in against the Aussies right before the IPL.
CSK has already started the tournament with a bang and MSD has made a roar with his comeback! Not only did Rayudu look in great touch, but Faf also gave him the support he wanted from one end, and then Sam Curran with his power hitting cameo towards the end still shows that even without MSD’s contribution with the bat, they’re a force to reckon. Their bowling attack looks really impressive from the last encounter and would look to get another win to their name against the Royals tonight.
Fun Fact – The Curran brothers playing against each other would be a sight to watch! The first game of CSK witnessed the Chahar brothers facing each other and this time it would be the Curran brothers.
Probable XIs and why –
CSK – Shane Watson, Murali Vijay, Faf Du Plessis, Ambati Rayudu, MS Dhoni(C)(Wk), Kedar Jadhav, Ravindra Jadeja, Sam Curran, Piyush Chawla, Deepak Chahar, Lungi Ngidi
No changes expected in their lineup after a win against the Mumbai Indians. MSD always likes to back their players even after poor performances one time round so this would be the lineup they’d play against the Royals as well.
RR – Yashaswi Jaiswal, Sanju Samson(Wk), Steve Smith, Robin Uthappa, David Miller, Riyan Parag, Tom Curran, Rahul Tewatia/Ankit Rajpoot, Jofra Archer, Shreyas Gopal, Jaydev Unadkat
The absence of Stokes and Buttler would be a huge loss to RR tonight. An option between Tewatia and Rajpoot is just because the latter has been in the IPL circuit for a longer time and has that experience with him, but Tewatia would give them that extra spin option alongside 3 seamers already in the mix, as well as the lower order finishing abilities in him. With Stokes not there, Tom Curran should be the ideal choice to go with. Not only can he bowl accurately and break partnerships at crucial intervals, he can give finishing death over runs with the bat as well.
Pitch Report –
A new venue, a new wicket. Match would be played in Sharjah tonight and a fresh wicket would await us with the batsmen being able to flourish. The spinners however would cause some trouble.
Analysis of various cricket matches 