Dubai. Today, in the 13th season of the Indian Premier League (IPL), Chennai Super Kings will face Delhi Capitals at Dubai International Cricket Stadium. Chennai started with a win by defeating Mumbai, but in the second match, Rajasthan Royals defeated the team captained by Mahendra Singh Dhoni.
The bowlers of the team had scored a lot of runs against Rajasthan and challenged Chennai to 217 runs to win. Chennai had lost the match by 16 runs after much effort.
Apart from bowling, the team did not do much in batting either. Only the bat of Faf du Plessis was played, all the others were unsuccessful.
Ambati Rayudu, the batsman who won the team with Faf in the first match, did not play in the second match. He was replaced by Rituraj Gaikwad, who was dismissed on the very first ball. Rayudu is still uncertain about playing in the second match and this could prove to be a big challenge for Chennai.
The Chennai opening pair has failed in the last two matches. Neither Murali Vijay has gone nor Shane Watson. In the second match, both of them could not give the kind of start that the team needed in front of a big score.
The problem of Chennai is also of middle order. Kedar Jadhav, Rituraj himself, Dhoni have not been able to do anything special. Dhoni had sent England youngster Sam Qurain above him in both the last matches.
Dhoni’s place is a topic of discussion for Chennai. Dhoni batted at No. 7 in the last match, but by the time he came and the way he was batting at the beginning, many had stood up. He had hit three sixes in the last over, but he was no longer mean to the team.
Now it has to be seen whether Dhoni comes up in the absence of Rayudu and takes the responsibility of handling the team or plays down.
Talking about bowling, Chennai spinners looted a lot of runs in the last match. Ravindra Jadeja had taken 40 runs in four overs and could not take wickets either. Piyush Chawla’s experience also did not work for the team. This leg-spinner took one wicket for 55 runs in four overs.
Lungi Nagidi was hit for four sixes by Jofra Archer in the last over, and if he was removed, his performance was fine. Kurain and Deepak Chahar were also able to perform average.
There is every possibility that Dhoni will land in the bowling attack with changed names.
On the other hand, the first match of Delhi Capitals was the most interesting match of the season so far. Marcus Stoinis saved Delhi with both bat and ball. Stoinis did not let Kings XI Punjab score a single off the last three balls and took the match to the Super Over, where Kagiso Rabada made Delhi’s task easier.
Delhi’s batting against Punjab was completely flopped. Prithvi Shaw, Shikhar Dhawan and Shimren Hetmyer could not reach even double numbers.
Rishabh Pant and captain Shreyas Iyer handled the team to some extent, but did not play a big innings. In the end, if Stoinis did not play an innings of 53 runs in 21 balls, then it was also difficult for Delhi to get a respectable score.
The team management can hardly think of a change in the playing eleven after a match, but it will definitely want its batsmen to work.
Delhi is relieved in bowling. Enrique Nortje, Rabada handled the fast bowling attack. Mohit Sharma definitely proved to be a bit expensive here. The biggest concern for the team in bowling is Ravichandran Ashwin’s injury. Ashwin, who strengthened his team by taking two wickets in the first over against Punjab, injured his shoulder in an attempt to stop the run on the last ball.
He had gone out of the field and not returned. If Ashwin stays fit, he will definitely play, but otherwise Delhi will have to compensate for his place. The team has options for leg-spinner Amit Mishra and Sandeep Lamichan.
Teams: –
Delhi Capitals: Shreyas Iyer (captain), Ajinkya Rahane, Alex Carey, Jason Roy, Prithvi Shaw, Rishabh Pant (wicketkeeper), Shikhar Dhawan, Shimran Hetmyer, Akshar Patel, Chris Woakes, Lalit Yadav, Marcus Stoinis, Chemo Paul, Amit Mishra , Avesh Khan, Harshal Patel, Ishant Sharma, Kagiso Rabada, Mohit Sharma, Ravichandran Ashwin, Sandeep Lamichane, Tushar Deshpande.
Chennai Super Kings: Mahendra Singh Dhoni (Captain), Kedar Jadhav, Ravindra Jadeja, Piyush Chawla, Dwyane Bravo, Karn Sharma, Shane Watson, Shardul Thakur, Ambati Rayudu, Murali Vijay, Faf du Plessis, Imran Tahir, Deepak Chahar, Lungi Nagidi , Michelle Santner, KM. Asif, Narayan Jagadishan, Monu Kumar, Rituraj Gaikwad, R.K. Sai Kishore, Josh Hazlewood, Sam Curran.
Leave a Reply