For the first time ever in the history of the Indian Premier league, Chennai Super Kings (CSK) will play a game after being knocked out of the tournament. It is the first time for them to be knocked out during the league stages. Chennai will walk to play for their fans and their pride.
Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), at the point where each team had nine matches under its belt, were two wins clear of the chasing pack of teams and were looking to increase the margin. With a solitary win in the next three games, they have been displaced from the top half of the table and even winning both their remaining games would have NRR as a deciding factor if the other results don’t go their way.
Consistency has been an issue for both CSK and KKR this season.
KKR have faltered on the powerplay, failing to notch up a single 50+ opening stand or a powerplay without losing any wickets. While Shubhman Gill’s strike rate has been an issue for a major part of the league, Nitish Rana and Rahul Tripathi have shown shades of wonder, without any consistency. Their problems don’t end there, as their middle order has faltered at the times when the top 3 have done a decent job. Dinesah Karthik is having a season to forget, Andre Russell didn’t turn up with the bat before an injury kept him out of the side and Sunil Narine has blown hot and cold as usual.
Their bowling department has also failed to capitalise in the powerplay with the exception of a couple of games. Pat Cummins, their costliest buy, has failed to take wickets up front, so much so that if Andre Russell is for today’s game, Pat Cummins looks like the only droppable option to include him in the squad.
Eoin Morgan with the bat and Lockie Ferguson with the ball have been redeeming factors for KKR season so far.
Chennai have been uncharacteristically inconsistent, to say the least. But their performance in the last game, led by young Ruturaj Gaikwad with the bat, would reassure Dhoni that there is a future ahead and they can find some solace in the two games that remain.
KKR would find it hard to replace the misfiring Dinesh Karthik as their backups have Tim Siefert, Tom Banton and Nikhil Naik, the former two being overseas players. This should mean a promotion for Morgan at four and Karthik to be used as a finisher.
CSK, if they continue with the giving chances to the youngsters formula, might bring in KM Asif and R Sai Kishore for Monu Kumar and Ravindra Jadeja.
Likely 11s:
CSK: Ruturaj Gaikwad, Faf du Plessis, Ambati Rayudu, MS Dhoni (C, wk), Sam Curran, N Jagadeesan, Ravindra Jadeja/R Sai Kishore, Mitchell Santner, Deepak Chahar, Monu Kumar/KM Asif, Imran Tahir
KKR: Shubman Gill, Nitish Rana, Rahul Tripathi, Dinesh Karthik (wk), Eoin Morgan (C), Sunil Narine, Pat Cummins/Andre Russell, Lockie Ferguson, Kamlesh Nagarkoti, Prasidh Krishna, Varun Chakravarthy
