In the 15th match of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021, Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) will be locking horns with Chennai Super Kings (CSK) at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Wednesday. After a tough start to their campaign, CSK is back on track with two wins in a row owing to some brilliant bowling performances. They will now be eyeing a top-four finish. While there are some concerns in their batting unit, especially Ruturaj Gaikwad’s form at the top of the order, CSK bats deep which make up more than makes up for the flaws.
Although CSK’s bowling attack has a lot of variety, they will be expecting Shardul Thakur to get his form back. On the other hand, KKR has won just one of their three IPL 2021 games. The likes of Nitish Rana and Varun Chakravarthy have excelled in IPL 2021 so far, but a change of venue can be morale-boosting for the team. Although a couple of changes can be expected, given the nature of the surface, the onus will be on Shubman Gill and captain Eoin Morgan.
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The Super Kings are the clear favorites ahead of the game as they are having a better understanding of the pitch in Mumbai, coupled with their momentum, CSK will be fancying their third consecutive win of the season. However, the Knight Riders will be keen to return to winning ways, and given their propensity to go hard, a change of base from Chennai to Mumbai could work wonders for them. With two valuable points up for grabs, we should be in for a thriller at the Wankhede on Wednesday.
Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR)
Sunil Narine was carrying an injury and Brendon McCullum has clarified the allrounder now comes into the mix and could be an option to replace Shakib al Hasan. In their three matches in Chennai, KKR included more spinners than pacers. Against MI and RCB, Eoin Morgan bowled as many as five overs of spin inside the first six overs but with very different conditions in Mumbai, that tactic will need a revisit.
Probable XI: Nitish Rana, Shubman Gill, Rahul Tripathi, Eoin Morgan (c), Shakib Al Hasan/Sunil Narine, Dinesh Karthik (wk), Andre Russell, Pat Cummins, Harbhajan Singh, Prasidh Krishna/Kamlesh Nagarkoti/Shivam Mavi, Varun Chakravarthy.
Chennai Super Kings (CSK)
Jason Behrendorff is in quarantine but Lungi Ngidi is out and available to play. It’s likely CSK will be inclined to have an option where they can rush the batsman which could mean that Dwayne Bravo will be replaced as Faf du Plessis, Moeen Ali and Sam Curran will continue to hold their place in the eleven. Against CSK, Andre Russell strikes at 161.43 and has scored 226 runs at an average of over 45. However, he has been troubled by Imran Tahir in the past.
Probable XI: Ruturaj Gaikwad, Faf du Plessis, Moeen Ali, Suresh Raina, Ambati Rayudu, Ravindra Jadeja, MS Dhoni (c & wk), Sam Curran, Shardul Thakur, Dwayne Bravo/Lungi Ngidi, Deepak Chahar.
Fantasy Suggestion #1:
MS Dhoni, Faf du Plessis (vc), Shubman Gill (c), Eoin Morgan, Moeen Ali, Andre Russell, Sam Curran, Deepak Chahar, Shardul Thakur, Pat Cummins, and Varun Chakravarthy
Fantasy Suggestion #2:
Dinesh Karthik, Faf du Plessis (c), Nitish Rana, Eoin Morgan, Suresh Raina, Ravindra Jadeja, Moeen Ali, Andre Russell (vc), Deepak Chahar, Prasidh Krishna, and Varun Chakravarthy
