Having won 5 out of their 6 matches so far including four at home, CSK is about to play the first of four consecutive away games. The first of the pack, Is the match against Rajasthan Royals at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium, Jaipur on 11th April.
The Royals are unfortunately languishing at the bottom of the table, Placed at Number 7. Their only victory came against Royal Challengers Bangalore by a margin of 7 wickets in Jaipur.
Although there were occasional sparks from the likes of Sanju Samson (The century against SRH at Hyderabad in a losing cause) Stokes and Archer (In their valiant effort to chase 166 in Chennai) No one apart from Shreyas Gopal has done something praiseworthy on a consistent basis. Rahane's moves as a captain in rotation of bowlers, Is a major concern .Especially with respect to the previous RR match.
Even though Steve Smith found some form in the previous match of RRvsKKR with his 59 balls 73 not out, That became extremely inconsequential in the end result, As RR made only 139 in twenty overs despite the fact that they lost only 3 wickets.KKR openers chased down the majority the score and gave their time a resounding 8 wicket victory.
CSK has unleashed their top game in slow and sluggish track by mostly sticking to a pattern throughout. Chahar does the damage at the top with the ball, and then the spinners plant more nails in the coffin! Scott Kuggeleijn to is there now and he would make an impact.
The tracks in the venues at Chennai and Jaipur are similar, As the maximum score by a team has been in the 170-180 mode, Only once With the other matches yielding comparatively low to average totals.
The 175/5 at Chennai was scored by CSK vs RR, Mainly by virtue of Dhoni's masterclass 75.RR fell 8 runs short in the chase.
Similarly, When KXIP made 184-3 at Jaipur with Gayle's heroics and Sarfaraz's cameo, RR witnessed a landslide and ended up on the losing side by 14 runs.
The look and feel of the match Would depend upon the intensity of RR on the given day and its a must that they should start feeling at home in a real sense quickly.
-Kumaran Kumanan