High on confidence after tasting success in their previous fixtures, Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and Rajasthan Royals (RR) gear up to face each other at former's home ground of MA Chidambaram Stadium in match 17 of IPL 2023 on Wednesday (April 12).
CSK head back home after defeating arch rivals Mumbai Indians at the Wankhede on Saturday. The same day, RR registered an emphatic win over Delhi Capitals at Barsapara Cricket Stadium in Guwahati.
The result of Saturday meant that both CSK and RR have won two of their first three fixtures of the season. While RR sit second place on the IPL 2023 points table, CSK are fifth on the points tally.
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CSK hope for English all-rounders to be available
For the match against RR, CSK will hope that its English all-rounders Moeen Ali and Ben Stokes are fit and available for selection. The two players missed the match against MI due to injuries and were replaced in the team's playing XI by by Ajinkya Rahane and Dwaine Pretorius. Although Pretorius did not have much impact in the match, Rahane, who made his debut for the CSK at Wankhede slammed a quick fire fifty in the run chase.
Another noteworthy change that CSK made in its playing XI against MI was to bring in South African fast bowler Sisanda Magala in place of young Indian rookie Rajvardhan Hangargekar. Magala on his IPL debut picked one wicket in his four overs.
Should Ali and Stokes fail to recover in time, expect CSK captain MS Dhoni to go with an unchanged playing XI against RR.
RR hoping Jos Buttler remains fit
While CSK missed its English imports on Saturday, RR's English overseas recruit Jos Buttler overcame an injury scare ahead of the match against DC and then went on to slam his second half-century of the season.
There were doubts that Buttler could miss a couple of matches after he had hurt his hand in RR's match against Punjab Kings while taking a catch. Buttler needed stitches in his fingers and did not come out to open the batting for the Royals as they sent R Ashwin along with Yashasvi Jaiswal.
But doubts over Buttler's fitness were cast aside when the wicketkeeper batsman took the field against DC and also batted at his regular spot.
There only change that RR made in its playing XI against DC was to pick pacer Sandeep Sharma ahead of a struggling fast bowler KM Asif.
Expect RR's playing XI to remain changed against CSK.
Should Stokes and Ali play for CSK and Buttler retains his place in RR's playing XI, expect plenty of English English elegance in this royal clash.
Head to Head
Matches played: 26
CSK wins: 15
RR wins: 11
Probable playing XI
Chennai Super Kings probable playing XI: Ruturaj Gaikwad, Ajinkya Rahane, Moeen Ali, Ravindra Jadeja, MS Dhoni (c & wk), Shivam Dube, Ben Stokes, Deepak Chahar, Mitchell Santner, Sisanda Magala, Tushar Deshpande
Rajasthan Royals probable playing XIJos Buttler, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Sanju Samson (c & wk), Riyan Parag, Shimron Hetmyer, Dhruv Jurel, Ravichandran Ashwin, Jason Holder, Trent Boult, Sandeep Sharma, Yuzvendra Chahal
Key players to watch
Ruturaj Gaikwad (CSK)
CSK opener Ruturaj Gaikwad has kick-started his IPL 2023 campaigns with the scores of 92, 57 and 40*. He is averaging 94.50 and has a strike rate of 161.53. With 14 sixes he also has the most sixes among the top-five run scorers this season. CSK will be reliant on Gaikwad weather it is setting a target or chasing a total.
Yashasvi Jaiswal (RR)
Another young opening batter to watch out for in this match will be RR's Yashasvi Jaiswal. The left-handed opener has slammed two fifties this year and has hit as many as 21 fours. Only Punjab Kings skipper Shikhar Dhawan with 27 fours has hit more fours so far this season. If Jaiswal and Jos Buttler get going then no total is beyond reach for the Royals.
Pitch Report
The pitch at MA Chidambaram Stadium is generally on the slower side that assists the spinners. Expect the likes of Ravindra Jadeja, Yuzvendra Chahal, R Ashwin to be amongst wickets in this match.
Where to Watch?
The match will commence at 7:30 pm on Wednesday and television viewers can tune into action on the Star Sports network. Digital users can bounce to the JioCinema application to catch the game at the same time.
(Edited by : Jerome Anthony)
