In the 37th match of the Indian Match 37 of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2020 the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) will be locking horns with Rajasthan Royals (RR) at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium on Monday. It’s a blow for CSK as their influential all-rounder Dwayne Bravo has been ruled out for at least a few days as he suffered a groin injury in the last game.
It was a nightmarish outing for CSK fielders against DC, apart from failing to convert half-chances and a run-out opportunity, and Dhoni would certainly seek improvement in that department. RR also find themselves in a very difficult situation and desperately need to explore ways to close down games. One good thing for RR is the return to form of their skipper Steve Smith, who made 57 on Saturday, but star all-rounder Ben Stokes will be expected to fire soon.
ALSO READ: Match 37 (CSK vs RR) – Fantasy XI Predictions
While Jos Buttler has not been consistent enough with the bat. Sanju Samson is expected to get his form back while Robin Uthappa seems to have found some form at the top, scoring 41 off 22 balls against RCB. The Jofra Archer-led bowling attack looked ordinary in front of the flamboyant RCB batsmen.
Chennai Super Kings (CSK)
Bravo’s injury against DC means CSK needs to look out at their death-bowling resources. That Abu Dhabi’s tilt towards quicks could mean a comeback for Lungi Ngidi, who featured in CSK’s first couple of games of the season. One more call that CSK might have to take is whether to play a third spinner, in Piyush Chawla, at the cost of a batting resource, in Kedar Jadhav, or rely on just the eight overs of spin from Karn Sharma and Ravindra Jadeja.
Probable XI: Sam Curran, Faf du Plessis, Shane Watson, Ambati Rayudu, MS Dhoni (C, wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Kedar Jadhav/Piyush Chawla, Deepak Chahar, Shardul Thakur, Karn Sharma, Lungi Ngidi
Rajasthan Royals (RR)
The top-order roulette has continued for RR. But with Uthappa managed to give the much-needed momentum at the top against RCB, he’s likely to retain his place there. However, he’ll be opening with Ben Stokes or not will be a matter of concern. The latter will allow Jos Buttler to open the innings again. Jaydev Unadkat conceded 46 in 4 overs on Saturday. More importantly, 25 of those came in the penultimate over against AB de Villiers that wildly swung the game in RCB’s favor.
Probable XI: Robin Uthappa, Ben Stokes, Sanju Samson, Steve Smith (C), Jos Buttler (wk), Riyan Parag, Rahul Tewatia, Shreyas Gopal, Jofra Archer, Jaydev Unadkat/Varun Aaron, Kartik Tyagi