The 17 th match of this year’s IPL will see the clash of Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals, the two teams that are making their comeback after a two-year ban. Rajasthan will hope against hope to recover their batting after a harsh loss against Kolkata. Chennai, on the other hand will jump off the deep end to make their bowling right.
Head-to- Head:
Overall: Matches – 17
Chennai Super Kings – 11
Rajasthan Royals – 6
Venue:
With CSK’s home matches shifted to Pune, Chennai and Rajasthan will play against each other at Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium, Pune.
Average 1st innings score: 156
Average 2nd innings score: 140
Highest Total: 205/4 (20 Ov) by DD vs RPS
Lowest Total: 73/10 (15.5 Ov) by KXIP vs RPS
Highest score chased: 196/7 (20 Ov) by GL vs RPS
Lowest score defended: 129/9 (20 Ov) by MI vs PWI
(The above stats only include the IPL matches played at Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium)
Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium favors batsmen and spin bowlers also gain advantage as the game progresses.
How do the teams stack up?
Chennai Super Kings
Though CSK has proven T20 batsmen and power-packed bowlers, they struggle till the very last moment to get close to the finish line. MS Dhoni who suffered from a back injury in Chennai’s last game against KXIP was seen practicing along with Suresh Raina who missed the last match due to his calf injury. If MSD is made to rest for a few more days, Dhruv Shorey will make his debut. The return of Raina will add more power to the team. The rest of the squad will be the same.
Probable XI: Shane Watson, Ambati Rayudu, Suresh Raina, Sam Billings, MS Dhoni, Ravindra Jadeja, Dwayne Bravo, Deepak Chahar, Harbhajan Singh, Shardul Thakur, Imran Tahir
Players to watch out for: Ambati Rayudu, Dwayne Bravo
Rajasthan Royals
Rajasthan Royals will learn the ropes to regain their winning momentum. Ajinkya Rahane and Sanju Samson have been the backbones of RR’s batting, and Jos Buttler in the middle order is giving his best shot to improve the overall score. Jayadev Unadkat and Ben Stokes should take the bull by the horns and get the ball rolling against Chennai. D’Arcy Short and Ben Laughlin haven’t been impressive either and they might get replaced by Heinrich Klassen and Joffra Archer respectively.
Probable XI: Ajinkya Rahane (capt), D'Arcy Short/Heinrich Klassen, Sanju Samson, Rahul Tripathi, Ben Stokes, Jos Buttler (wk), K Gowtham, Shreyas Gopal, Dhawal Kulkarni, Jaydev Unadkat, Ben Laughlin/Joffra Archer
Players to watch out for: Ajinkya Rahane, Shreyas Gopal, Sanju Samson
Punters Super Heavy On: Chennai Super Kings
