IPL 2024: Weary Chennai Super Kings fight to stay alive against Rajasthan Royals

1 year ago 75

Rajasthan Royals will look to seal playoff berth in clash which may become Dhoni's last at Chepauk
CHENNAI: A 35-run defeat against Gujarat Titans in Ahmedabad on Friday night has left Chennai Super Kings in a spot of bother.
IPL ORANGE CAP | IPL PURPLE CAP | IPL POINTS TABLE
A top-two spot seems off and now the entire focus will be on making the playoffs, for which CSK need to win both their matches. And with no time to recover and reflect on the performance against Titans, a tired CSK will be up against a powerful Rajasthan Royals in a day game on Sunday.

It is CSK's last home game and if they do not manage to stay alive for the final two games of the season - second qualifier and final - this may well become MS Dhoni's last match at Chepauk.

Royals, who will look to book a playoff berth, came to Chennai on Thursday night, had a couple of good practice sessions and are now ready to put CSK under some serious pressure. Royals might have lost a couple of games back-to-back in the lead-up to this high-voltage clash, but they have the wherewithal to match CSK in every department.


2

Speaking after the loss against Titans, Chennai skipper

Ruturaj Gaikwad

said that the RR match would be a tough battle. "It is (the next match) real quick, actually. We get a flight tomorrow (Saturday). It is going to be tough as we will just get up there. And, it will be difficult playing a day game in Chennai, especially against a really good side. But I feel that to stay in the tournament, we need to turn up really well," Ruturaj said on Friday.
The dew has been a huge factor in the past few games at Chepauk. But on Sunday, with the match being played in the afternoon, dew won't be a factor and the spinners should enjoy the conditions. While the hosts will bank on the spin trio of

Ravindra Jadeja

, Mitchell Santner and Moeen Ali to make the most of the conditions, Royals are on par with them in this department.
Home boy R Ashwin knows Chepauk conditions like the back of his palm and for company, he has leggie Yuzvendra Chahal, who found a place in the T20 World Cup side on the basis of his performances in the IPL.

CSK will also be wary of RR's formidable battling line-up that has the dependable duo of

Yashasvi Jaiswal

and Jos Buttler, in-form

Sanju Samson

and young gun Riyan Parag, who can turn the match on its head. The firepower of this line-up can be a big headache for Ruturaj, given the fact that his pace attack is still coming to terms with the departure of Matheesha Pathirana, Mustafizur Rahman and Deepak Chahar.
The only bright spot for CSK in their defeat against Titans was the bowling form of Shardul Thakur, who was landing his yorkers and mixing his pace well. CSK will hope the senior bowler keeps doing the job and coupled with the comfort of home conditions and passionate fans, the team does enough to take the survival battle to the final lap.

Article From: timesofindia.indiatimes.com
Read Entire Article



Note:

We invite you to explore our website, engage with our content, and become part of our community. Thank you for trusting us as your go-to destination for news that matters.

Certain articles, images, or other media on this website may be sourced from external contributors, agencies, or organizations. In such cases, we make every effort to provide proper attribution, acknowledging the original source of the content.

If you believe that your copyrighted work has been used on our site in a way that constitutes copyright infringement, please contact us promptly. We are committed to addressing and rectifying any such instances

To remove this article:
Removal Request