It’s the Battle of the Kings as Punjab Kings, fresh off their win against GT, travel to Chennai to take on CSK at their fortress—the MA Chidambaram Stadium. PBKS will be aiming to continue their winning start, while CSK will be desperate to bounce back after a more than disappointing loss against RR. So, let’s take a look at everything you need to know about this clash of the kings.
Expected Playing 11:
CSK:
- Ruturaj Gaikwad (C)
- Sanju Samson (WK)
- Ayush Mhatre
- Matt Short/Dewald Brevis
- Shivam Dube
- Jamie Overton
- Kartik Sharma
- Sarfaraz Khan
- Noor Ahmed
- Matt Henry
- Khaleel Ahmed
Impact Player- Anshul Khamboj
Even though MS Dhoni was seen taking throw-downs in practice last night, it’s still very unlikely that he’ll feature in tonight’s match against PBKS. However, Dewald Brevis did travel with the team today, so there’s a good chance he might play, which is why we’ve included him in the expected playing XI for Chennai. CSK are also unlikely to make many changes, as they are known for backing their players and won’t lose trust in them after just one game.
PBKS:
- Priyansh Arya
- Prabhsimran Singh (WK)
- Cooper Connolly
- Shreyas Iyer (C)
- Nehal Wadhera
- Shashank Singh
- Marcus Stoinis
- Marco Jansen
- Xavier Bartlett
- Vijaykumar Vyshak
- Arshdeep Singh
Impact Player- Yuzvendra Chahal
Head to Head:
| Matches- | 32 |
| CSK Won- | 16 |
| PBKS Won- | 16 |
| No Result- | 0 |
PBKS against CSK in Chepauk:
There are very few teams that consistently trouble CSK, and PBKS is definitely one of them. This hasn’t always been the case, but over the last five years, PBKS have dominated this matchup, winning 6 out of the last 7 games against Chennai.
If that wasn’t enough, PBKS also have a strong record at Chepauk—CSK’s so-called fortress. Out of the 9 matches they’ve played in Chennai, PBKS have won 5, which is a big achievement for any team. So, going into this match, home advantage might not be as strong for CSK as it usually is.
Pitch and Weather Conditions:
Chepauk today is quite different from what it used to be a few years ago. Earlier, it strongly supported bowlers, especially spinners, but now batters are getting more help from the surface. For a venue where high-scoring games were once rare, you can now expect a much higher-scoring contest. A recent example is from the ICC T20 World Cup, where India posted 256 against Zimbabwe. However, CSK captain Ruturaj Gaikwad mentioned that even he isn’t completely sure how the pitch will behave due to various factors, so it’ll be interesting to see how it plays out.
As for the weather, it’s set to be a hot and humid night in Chennai, with temperatures ranging from 26°C to 35°C. With these conditions, dew is not expected to play a major role in tonight’s match.
Prediction:
Chennai’s team doesn’t look much more stable than last year. Yes, they’ve revamped their squad, but it didn’t really show much impact in the first game. That said, it’s still very early in the tournament, so it would be unfair to judge them too quickly. CSK will definitely rely on their home crowd and the usual Chennai energy to lift them. However, we still feel Punjab might get the job done, mainly because their team looks more settled and balanced, and also because CSK’s so-called home advantage hasn’t had much impact against PBKS in recent years.
If you want to see the ‘Battle Of The Kings‘, then tune into JioHotstar at 7:30 PM IST.
Until next time!
Thank you.
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