The big three who could stop Chennai!

In a clash between former and present captains, MS Dhoni-led problem-ridden Chennai Super Kings (CSK) takes on Virat Kohli-led Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in Dubai (UAE) in the ongoing IPL-XIII. The winner would surely brighten the chances of making the play-offs. Like last week, Saturday would witness a double-header, the other match pitting Kings XI Punjab against Kolkata Knight Riders, who beat CSK in their latest encounter.

Thrice former champions and title-favorites CSK haven’t had a decent ride in the tourney, losing four out of its six matches thus far. Hit badly by the absence of veterans Suresh Raina and Harbhajan Singh, CSK is losing matches from a winning position, an aspect which has worried its fans and well-wishers the most.

CSK’s inconsistency

After beating KXIP convincingly by 10 wickets, CSK squandered an excellent start to lose against KKR. CSK’s brittle middle-order stood exposed in the face of du Plessis’ rare failure and MSD’s inability to hasten the scoring rate when it mattered the most. The freak loss against KKR has hampered CSK’s chances of making it the play-offs as it needs to win at least six of the remaining eight matches. A huge task indeed, going by CSK’s not-so-high standards this year!

Kedar out; Jadadeesan in?

After invoking the wrath of every CSK fan with his inept batting, Kedar Jadhav would obviously be sacked for tomorrow’s match to let Jagadeesan make his debut. Gaikwad is another choice available with CSK to bolster its middle-order. Bravo should bat up the order ahead of Dhoni, leaving the ‘greatest finisher’ to play only the last four overs when he is usually at his best. Excellent Sam Curran should keep his good work going. Bowling has been rather good but Chahar and Thakur should aim to get more wickets in the power-play.

RCB wants Kohli-de Villers to fire

RCB, which lost its last match against DC, banks heavily on the quartet of Finch, Devdut Padikkal, Kohli and de Villiers to pile up runs. Especially the trio of Finch, Kohli, and AB will be a big challenge for Chennai bowlers. Bangalore’s middle-order is as weak as CSK but if two of the top four clicks then the match would be one-sided. Such is the power of those trio!

RCB has issues in bowling. Mohamed Siraj, Navdeep Saini are not consistent. Yujvendra Chahal and Washington Sunder are doing extremely well. Chennai’s bowling on the other hand is stronger than that of Bangalore

It could very well turn out to be a toss-up between CSK’s batting and RCB’s batting as both the teams have bowlers who haven’t consistently delivered the goods.

Also, the captaincy skills of ‘cool’ Dhoni and ‘fiery’ Kohli (mentor and disciple?) will be tested to the core.

Expected XI:

CSK: Shane Watson, Faf du Plessis, Rayudu, Ruthuraj Gaikwad . Jagadeesan, MS Dhoni, Ravindra Jadeja, Dwayne Bravo, Sam Curran, Karn Sharma, Shardul Thakur and Deepak Chahar

RCB: Devdutt Padikkal, Aaron Finch, Virat Kohli, AB de Villiers, Shivam Dube, Moin Ali, Navdeep Saini, Yuzvendra Chahal, Mohammad Siraj, Washington Sundar and Isuru Udana