A beleaguered Chennai Super Kings will have their task cut out against Kolkata Knight Riders after losing regular skipper Ruturaj Gaikwad to injury, as they look to break a frustrating run of defeats in the IPL in Chennai on Friday. Gaikwad has been replaced by MS Dhoni after a fracture to his elbow ruled him out for the rest of the season, with the veteran wicketkeeper-batter taking over as the leader again. CSK will hope Dhoni's return at the helm brings them luck as the five-time winners try to overcome a string of defeats.
Heading into the critical game, in which a loss could spell more trouble for CSK, the home team is taking some solace from the batters' impressive show in the last match against Punjab Kings, which they lost by 18 runs after being set a stiff target of 219 in Mullanpur.
CSK are now hoping for a change in fortune at Chepauk, which has so far this season not afforded them the advantage it has been know to give in the past, something that has also forced longtime coach Stephen Fleming to express his frustration after a massive loss against Royal Challengers Bengaluru some days back.
CSK did not enjoy home advantage at Chepauk, which has been a significant factor in their previous success. The pitch has changed significantly, making it harder for them to read and adapt to.
For CSK to change the tide, they have no option but to try and get acclimatised to the conditions here, and their spinners will have to find ways to succeed at a venue in which they have dominated for a prolonged period.
CSK will have to do course correction in order to get back to winning ways and as has been the case in last couple of weeks, a lot of the focus will again be on veteran Dhoni, who smashed a 12-ball 27 against PBKS with three sixes and a four.
The likes of Devon Conway, Rachin Ravindra and Shivam Dube will be entering the match on the back of some welcome runs, and that is one positive for CSK in these difficult times.
The bowling will more or less remain the same with Khaleel Ahmed, Mukesh Choudhary and Matheesha Pathirana handling the pace department and the trio of R Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja and Noor Ahmad hoping to work their magic with their spin bowling.
As far as the Knight Riders are concerned, they will be smarting from their narrow loss against Lucknow Super Giants three days back, and will look to get back to winning ways before it gets too late for the defending champions.
Their bowlers were taken to task by LSG batters at Eden Gardens and they will hope for a much-improved performance at Chepauk, while the batting unit will bank on the likes of Quinton de Kock, Sunil Narine, skipper Ajinkya Rahane, Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Andre Russell and Rinku Singh to fire and lead their resurgence.
CSK are placed ninth in the standings after four losses and a solitary win, while KKR are in sixth position with two wins and three defeats in five matches.
Teams: Chennai Super Kings: MS Dhoni (c&wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Shivam Dube, Matheesha Pathirana, Noor Ahmad, Ravichandran Ashwin, Devon Conway, Syed Khaleel Ahmed, Rachin Ravindra, Rahul Tripathi, Vijay Shankar, Sam Curran, Shaik Rashid, Anshul Kamboj, Mukesh Choudhary, Deepak Hooda, Gurjanpreet Singh, Nathan Ellis, Jamie Overton, Kamlesh Nagarkoti, Ramakrishnan Ghosh, Shreyas Gopal, Vansh Bedi (wk), Andre Siddarth.
Kolkata Knight Riders: Quinton de Kock (wk), Sunil Narine, Ajinkya Rahane (c), Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Venkatesh Iyer, Rinku Singh, Manish Pandey, Andre Russell, Ramandeep Singh, Harshit Rana, Spencer Johnson, Varun Chakaravarthy, Anrich Nortje, Vaibhav Arora, Anukul Roy, Luvnith Sisodia, Moeen Ali, Rovman Powell, Mayank Markande, Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), Chetan Sakariya.
Match starts at 7.30pm.
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