In the 44th match of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2020, it will be a south Indian derby between the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) and Chennai Super Kings (CSK) at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium on Sunday. RCB was at their ferocious best in their last game against the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) where they had restricted the latter at 84.
Bangalore defeat RCB by 8 wickets which helped them immensely to improve their net run-rate as it has kept their hopes alive to reach the playoffs at top-2. However, locking horns with CSK, who just lost their first-ever game by 10 wickets, it can be a cakewalk for Virat Kohli and his men, and he will likely retain the same playing XI.
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On the other hand, CSK is well on the verge of getting out of contention from the playoffs race in the 13th edition of the IPL. CSK captain MS Dhoni has said that he will be testing a few players who have warmed the bench throughout the season in the remaining games. So, the fans might be able to witness Dhoni playing the final few tricks in the bag to end the tournament on a high.
Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB)
RCB no reason to make any changes to their playing XI. If at all, they will only look to make a tactical change and bring in an extra all-rounder in Shivam Dube. But given Siraj’s performance and the possibility of swing playing a factor, that will be a left-field move.
Probable XI: Aaron Finch, Devdutt Padikkal, Virat Kohli (c), AB de Villiers (wk), Gurkeerat Singh Mann, Chris Morris, Washington Sundar, Isuru Udana, Navdeep Saini, Mohammed Siraj, Yuzvendra Chahal
Chennai Super Kings (CSK)
CSK will need to start building for the next season and that means the team’s youngsters will be having no burden of winning the game, but have an opportunity to show their spark. There will, however, be the pressure of retention and release hanging over some players’ heads. Stephen Fleming confirmed that KM Asif and Mitchell Santner will feature in discussions and could get a go against RCB.
Probable XI: Ruturaj Gaikwad, Faf du Plessis, Ambati Rayudu, N. Jagadeesan, MS Dhoni (c&wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Sam Curran, Deepak Chahar, Shardul Thakur/KM Asif, Imran Tahir, Josh Hazlewood/Lungi Ngidi/Mitchell Santner
