The team that is sitting comfortably right at the top of the points table is Chennai Super Kings. After serving the suspension for the last two years, CSK has arrived this IPL spectacularly and are bossing everyone with their batting strength. They now host Delhi Daredevils at Pune, their adopted home ground. With a new captain Shreyas Iyer at the helm, DD look like a rejuvenated team.
Here is how the probable XI shapes up –
Delhi Daredevils
The challenges for Delhi were greater going into the last match against Kolkata Knight Riders. They had to win the match to keep themselves alive in the competition. Their captain Gautam Gambhir had just stepped down and the situation was gloomy.
But the brilliant start changed that perception. Colin Munro started off well, Prithvi Shaw played an amazing knock and it was topped by carnage from Shreyas Iyer. With the highest total of the season on the board, DD bowling had no pressure and they skittled the KKR team cheaply. Now they will be confident against CSK too.
In the last match DD dropped Gautam Gambhir and replaced him with Colin Munro and he played really well. Vijay Shankar was brought in for Shahbaz Nadeem but he hardly served the purpose. he may get dropped again.
Playing XI –
Liam Plunkett, Amit Mishra, Glenn Maxwell, Colin Munro, Trent Boult, Vijay Shankar/Jayant Yadav, Shreyas Iyer (c), Rahul Tewatia, Avesh Khan, Rishabh Pant (wk), Prithvi Shaw
Chennai Super Kings
CSK has been phenomenal in the season since the start. After starting off with close shaves, they started dominating the teams with their excellent death batting. In the match, though they were brought to back to the floor with Mumbai Indians defeating them soundly.
Despite the start from Rayudu, Raina and MS Dhoni failed to accelerate in the middle overs and CSK eventually had to settle for a decent total. The bowling was hamstrung with Chahar gone. Dhoni then made tactical errors in over management and MI cruised to an easy chase.
One forced change that CSK has to make is the replacement of Deepak Chahar. The best option perhaps is to replace Chahar with David Willey and adjust it with Karn Sharma and Imran Tahir.
Playing XI –
Harbhajan Singh, Shane Watson, Dwayne Bravo, MS Dhoni (c & wk), Suresh Raina, Ravindra Jadeja, Ambati Rayudu, Imran Tahir/Karn Sharma, Deepak Chahar/David Williey, Sam Billings, Shardul Thakur
