CSK have failed to take off this season by slumping to defeats in their first three games, all held in Mumbai
Chennai Super Kings skipper Ravindra Jadeja (left) with MS Dhoni
Defending champions Chennai Super Kings have a golden chance to record their first victory in the ongoing 15th IPL when they take on winless Sunrisers Hyderabad in their afternoon clash at the DY Patil Stadium on Saturday. CSK have failed to take off this season by slumping to defeats in their first three games, all held in Mumbai.
Change in fortunes at DY?
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The Ravindra Jadeja-led team will, thus, be eagerly hoping that a different venue, across the Thane creek, will bring about a change in their fortunes against a team that has also failed to get off the mark. The match between the four-time title winners and 2016 champions SRH will be the first afternoon match for both the opposing teams.
The toss, thus, would be a minor factor at a venue that has seen significant dew fall in the second part of the evening clashes. CSK’s batting unit has flopped in two out of three matches, raising scores of 131 and 126, and in the third, they made 210 which was overhauled by rivals Lucknow Super Giants.
Ruturaj Gaekwad, who blazed his way to the top of the run getters list in 2021 with a tally of 635 from 16 games with a century to boot, has been off the boil so far with a paltry eight runs to his credit.
Jadeja too has been insipid so far on the field with both the bat and the ball and the team has suffered hugely. Fortunately, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, who led CSK to their fourth title last season, has risen to the occasion by showing glimpses of his glorious past.
The team are also missing medium pace swing bowler Deepak Chahar, who claimed 14 wickets during their title-grabbing run last season, due to injury. Also missing is Shardul Thakur (21 wickets last season) who is representing Delhi Capitals now.
Kane needs to fire
SRH too have looked unconvincing with captain Kane Williamson not firing at the top. They don’t have two key players in their ranks post the auction, David Warner and Rashid Khan.
Significantly, SRH have lost both matches in which they were chasing the target. They currently occupy the bottom of the table and need to identify a winning combination at the earliest.
89
No. of runs MS Dhoni has scored in IPL-15
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