Chennai Super Kings Eye Return to Winning Ways at Home Against High-Flying KKR
Chennai, April 8th, 2024: The MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai is set to host an exciting IPL clash on Monday as the defending champions Chennai Super Kings take on the league leaders Kolkata Knight Riders. After a couple of losses on the road, CSK will be desperate to return to winning ways in familiar home conditions.
CSK have an excellent record at Chepauk, having lost just 8 out of 34 games at the venue since 2013. However, they face a stern challenge from KKR, who have been in blistering form with three wins from three matches so far. The resurgence of Sunil Narine as an explosive opener has provided KKR’s batting a huge boost.
There are some potential key match-ups that could decide the outcome. KKR will look to exploit CSK opener Rachin Ravindra’s weakness against the moving ball. On the other hand, CSK’s Sri Lankan bowling duo of Matheesha Pathirana and Maheesh Theekshana have had the wood over KKR’s Rinku Singh in the past, dismissing him cheaply.
CSK could opt to bring back Pathirana, who missed the last game, as his slingy action could be a handful on the Chepauk pitch. However, their bowling coach Eric Simmons indicated Pathirana’s availability is still uncertain after being rested previously as a precaution.
Both teams are likely to field strong XIs for this crucial encounter. Key battles to watch out for include the Dhoni vs Narine duel, as well as KKR’s Mitchell Starc taking on CSK’s powerful batting lineup.
While the Chepauk pitch has been batter-friendly so far this season, there are suggestions it could start assisting the spinners more as the tournament progresses. Whichever team adapts better on the day could walk away with two vital points.
CSK vs KKR Team Squads
Kolkata Knight Riders Squad: Philip Salt(w), Sunil Narine, Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Andre Russell, Shreyas Iyer(c), Rinku Singh, Venkatesh Iyer, Ramandeep Singh, Mitchell Starc, Harshit Rana, Varun Chakaravarthy, Vaibhav Arora, Anukul Roy, Suyash Sharma, Manish Pandey, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Dushmantha Chameera, Srikar Bharat, Nitish Rana, Chetan Sakariya, Sherfane Rutherford, Sakib Hussain, Allah Ghazanfar
Chennai Super Kings Squad: Rachin Ravindra, Ruturaj Gaikwad(c), Ajinkya Rahane, Shivam Dube, Ravindra Jadeja, Daryl Mitchell, MS Dhoni(w), Moeen Ali, Deepak Chahar, Tushar Deshpande, Maheesh Theekshana, Mukesh Choudhary, Shardul Thakur, Shaik Rasheed, Mitchell Santner, Sameer Rizvi, Devon Conway, Mustafizur Rahman, Ajay Jadav Mandal, Prashant Solanki, Simarjeet Singh, RS Hangargekar, Matheesha Pathirana, Nishant Sindhu, Aravelly Avanish
CSK vs KKR IPL Live – Probable XI
I): Phil Salt (wk), Sunil Narine, Venkatesh Iyer, Shreyas Iyer (c), Rinku Singh, Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Andre Russell, Ramandeep Singh, Mitchell Starc, Vaibhav Arora, Varun Chakaravarthy, Suyash Sharma