IPL 2020: Chennai and Hyderabad look to bounce back
Chennai Super Kings will face off against Sunrisers Hyderabad on Friday at Dubai international cricket stadium. Both the teams will be playing their fourth match of the season and for both it’s not been the kind of start to the season which they would have wanted. Mahendra Singh Dhoni led CSK won their first match of the season against Mumbai Indians but after that lost two consecutive matches. On the other hand, SRH lost their initial two matches but finally managed to win their third match against Delhi Capitals which helped to boost their confidence ahead of the contest against Chennai.
#CSK will be back in action after a gap of a week and will be hoping to make a winning return.
Match 14 of #Dream11IPL will see #CSK up against #SRH. Preview by @ameyatilak https://t.co/SdFhTvMO1D #CSKvSRH pic.twitter.com/YL6C6nqdor
— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) October 2, 2020
Chennai’s middle order worry
Chennai team have a concern about their middle order which has not been performing as expected and is the main reason for their loss in the last two matches. Apart from Faf Du Plessis, no one else has been able to contribute and it is not possible for one player alone to win the matches for the team especially when chasing big target. Ruturaj Gaikwad, Kedar Jadhav, MS Dhoni and Sam Curran will not to up their game and will not to start getting runs from the start rather than dot balls and building pressure on the team.
Possible changes to the XI
While Sunrisers Hyderabad may not make any significant changes to their playing XI from the previous game, Chennai Super Kings will definitely be looking to make some changes after two defeats. Ambati Rayudu got injured during the first match against Mumbai Indians and has not played any match after that. Rayudu is likely to return to the squad in this match and that will be big boost to the Chennai team as he is in good form and will make their middle order look stronger. One more player who can be seen in playing XI is West Indies all-rounder Dwayne Bravo, who is a proven match winner. If these two players return , it will mean CSK would likely have to one of either Murali Vijay and Ruturaj Gaikwad and also Sam Curran is likely to be excluded to include Bravo in final playing 11.
Dhoni’s batting position
One of the choices from Chennai Super Kings which has surprised many cricket experts and fans is that Chennai captain Dhoni is coming out to bat a bit too late in the last few matches. Its been seen that Dhoni comes out to bat when the match is almost out their hands and it is difficult for him to start hitting sixes right from the first ball. Its been observed and also many fans are raising their voice via social media that Dhoni needs to promote himself up the order so that he can take few deliveries initially to get set and then hit those big sixes and fours to take the side through. Over the years, MSD has been known as the best finisher in the shorter formats of the game. Although he has retired from international cricket but fans will be hoping to see him finish few matches in this year’s IPL.
SRH need good start
Sunrisers Hyderabad bowlers like Rashid Khan, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and T Natarajan have been impressive but their concern will be inconsistency at the top order. David Warner and Jonny Bairstow will need to provide a good start as that will relive a lot of pressure from middle order batsman and will put the team at a definite advantage. In the previous seasons, one of the major reason why Sunrisers have been winning matches because these two openers have been giving superb start at the beginning of the innings and helping team pile up big runs or even chase mammoth target easily.
Head to head
Although the Hyderabad players will high on confidence after winning the last match against Delhi, but according to their head to head record in IPL history, Chennai have the upper hand. In the 12 matches between these two teams so far, CSK have won 9 whereas SRH have been able to win only 3 of those matches.
Right before the Lions get into their #ManjaSokka! 🦁💛
BGM by Super Fans AKR and Vardhan. #WhistleFromHome #WhistlePodu #Yellove #CSKvSRH pic.twitter.com/hOA4U3xa6u
— Chennai Super Kings (@ChennaiIPL) October 2, 2020
Possible Squads (Predicted XI)
Chennai Super Kings Predicted XI
Shane Watson,Murali Vijay/Ruturaj Gaikwad,Faf Du Plessis,Ambati Rayudu, Mahendra Singh Dhoni(W/C), Kedar Jadhav,Dwayne Bravo, Ravindra Jadeja,Piyush Chawla,Deepak Chahar,Josh Hazlewood
Sunrisers Hyderabad Predicted XI
David Warner(C),Jonny Bairstow,Kane Williamson,Wriddhiman Saha,Manish Pandey,Abhishek Sharma,Abdul Samad,Rashid Khan, Bhuvneshwar Kumar,T Natarajan, Khaleel Ahmed
.@BhuviOfficial vs Watson since 2014 in the IPL 🔥
🎯 45 out of 71 have been dot balls 🤯#CSKvSRH #OrangeArmy #KeepRising #Dream11IPL pic.twitter.com/YZAiBF8qFq
— SunRisers Hyderabad (@SunRisers) October 2, 2020
This IPL season is the 13rd edition and there fear before the start of the tournament that it will not be able to attract people as there will be empty stadiums and the players will also not be able to stay motivated. But the result is completely different. The arrangements had been made so that fans don’t feel it do be an empty stadium and the tournament has been getting great response thanks to some close contests going down to the wire and keeping people right on the edge of their seats. There have been screens put on the ground, fans are watching through zoom application and hence players are also motivated to perform and enjoying the game. Amid the frustration due to Covid19, Indian Premier league has provided some joy to the fans and they will be hoping to see more such thrilling contest in this season. Initially due to the pandemic there was no cricket played for few months and some of the cricketers who had not played any form of cricket before IPL are also excited and looking to perform their best in a game which they love to play.
