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. After having a forgettable outing in the last season, the Chennai Super Kings begin their IPL 2021 campaign with high expectations as they have bought some explosive talent in Robin Uthappa and Moeen Ali. The emergence of Shardul Thakur will be a huge boost for CSK, who did struggle with the ball in the death overs last year.

Although there’s a lot being said about Suresh Raina and captain MS Dhoni, they are arguably two of the best players to have ever played in the IPL. With the youthful exuberance of Sam Curran and Ruturaj Gaikwad rubbing off on the squad, the Super Kings will fancy their chances of a win in their first IPL 2021 encounter. They face a Delhi Capitals side who will be missing Anrich Nortje and Kagiso Rabada as they are unavailable due to quarantine restrictions.

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However, DC has enough depth within their squad with the likes of Chris Woakes and new signing Umesh Yadav to star on the bowling front. But they might slide under the radar with Rishabh Pant, who will be making his captaincy debut in IPL 2021.  The last time these two sides met in an IPL fixture, Axar Patel snatched a win out of the Super Kings’ claws with a magnificent cameo. Since then, both teams have made quite a few changes. Either way, both teams will be looking for the all-important win in the very first fixture as Rishabh Pant and MS Dhoni pit their wits at the Wankhede on Saturday.

Here are some fantasy XI predictions for the game:

Wicket-Keepers

Rishabh Pant seems to be a better pick as he has been known for making a strong comeback and he will be much more effective on pitches in Mumbai. However, for CSK, MS Dhoni will be keeping the wickets as he is known for playing match-winning knocks, but in order to maintain the balance of the Fantasy XI, Pant seems the better pick.

Batsmen

Shikhar Dhawa, Suresh Raina, Faf du Plessis, and Prithvi Shaw have always been the prime contenders for fantasy cricket. Even, Steve Smith also is added in fantasy cricket and that will depend on the balance of the squad. Apart from them, there are some useful batsmen in the line-ups as well, like Ambati Rayudu, and Robin Uthappa.

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All-rounder

There are some really reliable all-rounders in both teams but citing the pitch in Mumbai, Chris Woakes, Marcus Stoinis, and Ravindra Jadeja seems to be the perfect fit. Apart from them, the good all-rounders for fantasy cricket are Sam Curran and Moeen Ali.

Bowlers

Both the teams don’t have decent bowling line-ups but they don’t have practiced a lot. Bowlers like  Ravi Ashwin, Umesh Yadav, Tom Curran, and Shardul Thakur become the obvious choices for the Fantasy XI on the dusty track at the Wankhede Stadium. Apart from them, some crucial bowlers can be like, Imran Tahir, Ishant Sharma, and Amit Mishra.

Fantasy Suggestion #1:

Rishabh Pant, Shikhar Dhawan (C), Suresh Raina, Faf du Plessis (vc), Chris Woakes, Marcus Stoinis, Moeen Ali, Sam Curran, Ravi Ashwin, Umesh Yadav, and Shardul Thakur

Fantasy Suggestion #2:

Rishabh Pant (vc), Prithvi Shaw, Suresh Raina, Faf du Plessis (c), Chris Woakes, Marcus Stoinis, Ravindra Jadeja, Sam Curran, Ravi Ashwin, Tom Curran, and Shardul Thakur