Delhi Capitals and Mumbai Indians have shared the top spot in the points table, handing it off to each other after each of their games. A win today would propel Delhi back to the top.
Chennai Super Kings, on the other hand, have had a strange outing, and are placed at sixth on the table with just 3 wins in 8 games, but a win today would see them breaking into the top four, a position they are more familiar with.
Although DC are placed exponentially better on the points table, they walk into the game with concerns than they would like. Rishabh Pant's injury had already forced the team rejig their whole line-up and Alex Carey walked into the team at the expense of Shimron Hetmeyer, with Rahane walking into the squad too. Their problems are set to further increase as Shreyas Iyer might miss out on today's game because of a Shoulder Injury.
When the two teams faced off the last time, Delhi came out on top comfortably. But a lot has changed since then and Chennai Super Kings have managed to find their mojo and look a more settled side with the likes of Shane Watson regaining form.
Sam Curran being sent out to open has worked well for the team and seems like a move that shall continue for the time being. CSK are better served by him at the top as he is the kind of player who plays with a high strike rate.
Delhi's combinations will be decided by the fitness of Shreyas Iyer and Rishabh Pant. If the latter is fit and the former is not, it will be a direct swap between the two. If both of them are indeed fir, Delhi would go back to their preferred 11. The major trouble for Delhi would be if both of them are unfit. The one reassurance they would have is that Shikhar Dhawan is back to his old self and is playing with a relatively higher strike rate.
For Chennai, the only possible change is if they decide to play an extra spinner at the expense of the extra batsman.
Likely 11s:
DC: Shikhar Dhawan, Prithvi Shaw, Ajinkya Rahane/Rishabh Pant, Shreyas Iyer, Marcus Stoinis, Alex Carey/Shimron Hetmyer, Axar Patel, Kagiso Rabada, R Ashwin, Anrich Nortje, Tushar Deshpande
CSK: Faf du Plessis, Sam Curran, Shane Watson, Ambati Rayudu, MS Dhoni, Ravindra Jadeja, Dwayne Bravo, Kedar Jadhav/Piyush Chawla, Deepak Chahar, Shardul Thakur, Karn Sharma
