In the 41st match of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2020, Chennai Super Kings (CSK) will be locking horns with their arch-rivals Mumbai Indians (MI) at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium on Friday. MI has been consistently doing well in this season as they have win six out of nine games. Despite losing two out of their first three games in IPL 2020, MI made a strong comeback barring their only other defeat coming in a Super Over to the Kings XI Punjab.
MI’s openers Rohit Sharma and Quinton de Kock are in superb form, followed by Ishan Kishan and Suryakumar Yadav also played some match-winning knocks in this season. On the other hand, it hasn’t gone according to plan for CSK, still, they have the chance of reaching the top half of the table, but it will be difficult especially after the injury of Dwayne Bravo. Despite the likes of Faf du Plessis and to some extent Sam Curran doing well with the bat, inconsistent performances have hampered CSK in IPL 2020.
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CSK will be looking to avoid the wooden spoon, but they face a stern test in MI. With the two most successful teams in IPL history going head-to-head in Sharjah, we should be in for a nail-biting game.
As the two sides prepare for a thrilling encounter, here’s a look at three key player battles to keep an eye on.
#1. Jasprit Bumrah vs Faf du Plessis
While Jasprit Bumrah for sure has had the better IPL 2020 so far, Faf du Plessis is the highest run-scorer for CSK. He has 375 runs from eight matches at a strike rate of 141.5. Bumrah was a little underboiled when IPL 2020 got off and Trent Boult filled in admirably. But India’s fast-bowling spearhead Bumrah has got better as the tournament progressed.
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He has 15 wickets from seven IPL 2020 games, at an economy of 7.44. He bowled a brilliant spell of 4/20 against the Rajasthan Royals. CSK would be hoping for big things from Faf as they progress on their unsteady way, while MIs would love Bumrah to be firing on all cylinders as IPL 2020 is nearing towards the business end.
#2. Rohit Sharma vs Deepak Chahar
Deepak Chahar has been not been able to produce the performance he was expected ahead of IPL 2020. He will be optimistic to get his form back especially against MI skipper Rohit Sharma, whose sublime stroke play can ruin the bowling figures of some of the best in the business. Rohit is amongst the top run-scorers in the ongoing edition, having scored 260 runs in nine matches at a strike rate of 129.35. He has been ensuring a quick start for MI and he is yet to hit the heights of his capability.
#3. MS Dhoni vs Rahul Chahar
It’ll be an interesting battle between Rahul Chahar and the CSK skipper, MS Dhoni, as the latter has not been as decisive with the bat as was in previous editions. On the other hand, Rahul will be very interested in seeing if he can find any chinks in the renowned Dhoni armor while the CSK captain will be looking to get his reputation back.
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Dhoni has scored 164 runs from 10 matches with a strike rate of 125.19, and Chahar has claimed 11 wickets, at an economy of 7.40. Right up there with the best. Dhoni represents an old lot of stars like Faf du Plessis, Shane Watson, Dwayne Bravo, and Imran Tahir, the fading stars of the CSK playing XI, while Chahar is the future.
