The second match of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021 will witness a thrilling contest between Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and Delhi Capitals (DC) at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Saturday. The game will be played at a venue that is known for providing enormous assistance to the batsmen and has produced a lot of high-scoring games.
The boundaries in Mumbai are short as well, which helps batsmen clear them quite easily. With all that said, there is no doubt that we the fans will be expecting a high-scoring match. But, there are certain players who can make the game worthy to watch for the fans. There are several star players in both the units, like Shikhar Dhawan, Steve Smith, Rishabh Pant, MS Dhoni, Suresh Raina to name a few.
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Here is a look at the 3 player battles to watch out for in the clash between CSK and DC:
#3 Suresh Raina vs R Ashwin
Suresh Raina returns to his favorite IPL team after missing the last season due to personal reasons. He brings with him valuable IPL experience with 5368 runs from 193 IPL matches. At No. 3, Raina can play the perfect anchor in the CSK line-up which allows the power-hitters to play their shots.
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R Ashwin was one of the standout performers of DC last season as he scalped 13 wickets from 15 matches that took his overall tally 138 wickets from 154 matches. He has always been a handy customer against southpaws and it can trouble Raina in the middle overs. Ashwin’s IPL experience makes him one of the vital cogs in the DC XI.
#2 Ruturaj Gaikwad vs Umesh Yadav
Ruturaj Gaikwad had a rollercoaster debut in IPL 2020 as he was dismissed for a duck on debut, but in the last three games, he scored three consecutive fifties. Interestingly, his historic successive half-centuries came as an opener. Therefore, it will be likely that he will be one-half of CSK’s opening pair. However, DC pacer, Umesh Yadav is in a similar position. He played just 2 matches of RCB and failed to get a wicket, but he will be looking to get some momentum this season early on.
#1 Ravindra Jadeja vs Steve Smith
CSK’s star all-rounder also returns after a long injury break. Ravindra Jadeja has been out of action since sustaining an injury during India’s tour of Australia 2020-21. However, Jadeja began his rehab in the lead-up to the IPL and he will be playing his first competitive game after mints. In last season, he wasn’t very impressed with the ball, though, picking up just six wickets, but he will look to improve on.
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Former, Royals skipper Steve Smith’s addition has bolstered the Delhi Capitals lineup. A No.3 batsman and now with captaincy duties relieved, Smith will be more focussed on his batting as he possesses the ability to single-handedly decimate a bowling lineup. However, in the past, Jadeja has troubled him across the formats.
