In the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) 2020, the franchise facing a stern challenge of finding their best playing XIs. UAE’s three venues, at least in this early stage of the season, are making teams work harder behind the scenes. Chennai Super Kings’s (CSK) woes have been compounded as they played their first two games at two out of the three venues and similar has been the case with Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) as well.
SRH has also taken some time to get the ball rolling, but they seem to have momentum after the win over Deli Capitals (DC). Until their win against DC, Kane Williamson was warming the bench, but his inclusion rather inexperienced middle-order. That ploy, however good on paper, was ripped to shreds by both RCB and KKR.
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What remains to be seen is if CSK can manage to make amends in their slow starts and put all their background efforts to good use as games come thick and fast in October. Of the six games played in Dubai, the team batting first has won four matches and the other two have been decided by Super Overs. CSK themselves considered taking the bat-first route in their last game, against DC in Dubai but decided against in anticipation of dew, which never came.
Chennai Super Kings (CSK)
Ambati Rayudu is definitely expected to make a comeback and it will add the mich-needed ‘steam’ in the top-order. However, his inclusion might become the end of the road for Murali Vijay for now. Ruturaj Gaikwad can be expected to partner with Shane Watson to open the innings. Fleming confirmed that Dwayne Bravo is fit, but picking him doesn’t appear to be a straightforward move.
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Sam Curran has played a crucial role for the team with his bat and has proven to be a handy bowling resource at both ends of the innings. There’s also the task of bringing IPL 2019’s leading wicket-taker Imran Tahir. After the last game, Dhoni hinted at the possibility of playing a sixth bowling option since Rayudu’s return will provide balance to the batting line-up.
Probable XI: Shane Watson, Murali Vijay/Ruturaj Gaikwad, Faf du Plessis, Ambati Rayudu, Sam Curran, MS Dhoni, Ravindra Jadeja, Kedar Jadhav/Shardul Thakur, Deepak Chahar, Piyush Chawla, Josh Hazlewood/Imran Tahir
Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH)
Kane Williamson’s inclusion straightened out SRH’s batting mess and paved the way for a victory that had the SRH stamp on it – where bowlers made a target look bigger than it was for the chasing side. This despite having just five bowling options in their line-up. If Vijay Shankar is fit again, he could replace Priyam Garg and provide some breathing room in the bowling department.
Probable XI: David Warner, Jonny Bairstow, Manish Pandey, Kane Williamson, Priyam Garg/Vijay Shankar, Abdul Samad, Abhishek Sharma, Rashid Khan, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, T Natarajan, Khaleel Ahmed
