It is the southern derby today at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium in Sharjah. Match 35 in the 2021 Indian Premier League will see the Chennai Super Kings clash with the Royal Challengers Bangalore, two teams who are sitting comfortably in the top four of the points table with 12 and 10 points respectively.
Form guide
CSK started the UAE leg of the IPL with a stunning comeback against the defending champions Mumbai Indians. From 24-4 inside the powerplay to winning the match by 20 runs, CSK would be running high on confidence and would go into today’s match with a psychological advantage.
RCB, on the other hand, had a forgettable restart to their campaign, getting bundled out for just 92 against the Kolkata Knight Riders. Skipper Virat Kohli was optimistic of his team turning it around after a thumping loss, and it would be interesting to watch how the RCB players lift themselves for a CSK sized challenge.
In their last encounter, CSK registered a resounding win against their southern rivals, defeating them by 69 runs. The match was a Ravindra Jadeja special, whose stunning late assault of 62 runs off just 28 balls included 37 runs off the final over from Harshal Patel, the tournament’s leading wicket-taker. Jadeja later came back to pick figures of 3-13 from his four overs to complete one of the most dominating individual performances in IPL’s history.
Players to watch out for
Ruturaj Gaikwad has been in terrific form this season, scoring 284 runs at 40.57 along with three fifties. His calm and measured innings under pressure against MI in their previous match shows that the young opener has a solid temperament to go with immense talent. CSK would once again hope that Gaikwad continues his merry form and provides not only a good start in the powerplay but a meaty inning and help CSK post a competitive total or chase down a tricky target.
A change in franchise brought a change in the fortunes of Glenn Maxwell, who is currently the top run-scorer for RCB in this year’s IPL. RCB’s team management has been able to utilize Maxwell’s batting potential and the impact that he can have on the match by playing him at number four. This move has not only allowed Maxwell to pace his innings, but it has also allowed AB de Villiers the license to go out and play his natural game. The match results and the performances of Maxwell and de Villiers (207 runs at a SR of 162.99) have so far vindicated the batting order of RCB and they would want both the explosive players to come good once again against CSK tonight.
Probable playing XI:
Despite their heavy loss, RCB can consider that as an aberration and are most likely to go with an unchanged playing XI. CSK are hopeful that Ambati Rayudu will get fit to play after a blow he received on his hand against MI.
Royal Challengers Bangalore: Virat Kohli (C), Devdutt Padikkal, Srikar Bharat (WK), Glenn Maxwell, AB de Villiers, Wanindu Hasaranga, Sachin Baby, Harshal Patel, Mohammed Siraj, Kyle Jamieson, Yuzvendra Chahal.
Chennai Super Kings: Ruturaj Gaikwad, Faf du Plessis, Moeen Ali, Suresh Raina, Ambati Rayudu, MS Dhoni (C & WK), Ravindra Jadeja, Dwayne Bravo, Shardul Thakur, Deepak Chahar, Josh Hazlewood.