Match starts at 7:30 pm
Guwahati, March 29: Completely shaken by the sound thrashing that Royal Challengers Bengaluru handed them, a confused Chennai Super Kings might feel more “at home” against an equally clueless Rajasthan Royals on a slow turner expected to be on offer in their next IPL game here on Sunday.
Losing by more than 50 runs at ‘Fortress Chepauk’ would have seemed like a wishful thinking for an opposition side till date but RCB’s ‘class of 2025’ under an ever-improving skipper Rajat Patidar has exposed some chinks in the CSK armoury and the match against RR couldn’t have come at a better time for Ruturaj Gaikwad’s men.
CSK coach Stephen Fleming looked livid about Chepauk conditions where normally the team’s template is to play games where it either defend 165 to 170 if batting first or chase down 155 to 160 by restricting opposition.
The kind of batting line-up that they have with MS Dhoni now becoming a designated ‘tail-ender’ at No. 9 due to Impact Substitution has worked well.
But the moment it became a chase of 175 plus, the same line-up didn’t have enough firepower and one world-class bowler (Josh Hazlewood) and another seasoned veteran (Bhuvneshwar Kumar) were good enough to stop the home team on their tracks.Dhoni’s unbeaten 30 off 16 balls only has value for nostalgia merchants as the former India captain is doing disservice to his team by coming in to bat when all is seemingly lost.
In this backdrop, playing RR on a surface which is “more Chepauk-ish than typical Barsapara Stadium track full of runs” might just help CSK get a win against a side that also doesn’t boast of a great bowling attack.
Also Riyan Parag is too raw as a skipper and to put it mildly seems completely out of place for a high stakes assignment like leading a billion dollar franchise. (PTI)