Chennai Super Kings (CSK), led by Mahendra Singh Dhoni, will look to continue their winning streak as they lock horns with Ravichandran Ashwin's Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) in the day's second Indian Premier League (IPL 2018) match in Mohali. A win against KXIP will propel CSK to the top of the Vivo IPL points table. Kings XI Punjab have seen a seesaw in IPL 2018 so far -- they defeated Delhi Daredevils in the first game but fell short against Royal Challengers Bangalore in Bengaluru. They will need to address their weaknesses in the game against CSK, particularly their batting.
Kings XI Punjab have one win and one loss so far and despite the loss, one can expect that they will not make too many changes to the team that played against Royal Challengers Bangalore. For a win at home against Dhoni's in-form side, Punjab's batting department will need to fire. Other than K L Rahul, Punjab's star batsmen have yet to click. Yuvraj Singh and Mayank Agarwal have struggled to get runs in IPL 2018 so far.
Chennai Super Kings, making a comeback in the 2018 Indian Premier League after serving a two-year suspension, have roared in their two encounters so far and again proved why they are one of the serious contenders for the title. In their campaign opener against three-time champions Mumbai Indians, Dwayne Bravo and Kedar Jadhav pulled off a thrilling last over win for Chennai. But now CSK have been forced to reorganise -- first Kedar Jadhav suffered an injury and was ruled out of the rest of the season, and now Suresh Raina has been ruled out for at least two matches. The injury to Raina could mean the batting will be opeed by Murali Vijay, who is now fully fit and available for selection, and possibly a move down the order for Ambati Rayudu. It will be the first time that Raina will miss a match for Chennai Super Kings; he has featured in all of their 134 IPL matches so far and helped them make it to the playoffs on eight occasions, and win the trophy twice.
Here are a few things to know about the Chennai Super Kings vs Kings XI Punjab match today at IS Bindra Stadium in Mohali, the two teams' performance so far, and which players should be looked forward to in today's match:
Chennai Super Kings batsmen who can make an impact in today's match against Kings XI Punjab: Chennai Super Kings will be at a massive disadvantage with their mainstay Suresh Raina being side-lined with an injury. In Raina's absence, CSK would want Shane Watson – who has looked good in the two innings so far, Sam Billings, and captain MS Dhoni to step up and make big scores. Ambati Rayadu who opened the innings for CSK in first two encounter will look to continue his form and score some big runs in today's match against KXIP at Mohali. CSK have enough depth in their batting line-up with the likes of Dhoni, Suresh Raina, Ravindra Jadeja, Faf du Plessis, Shane Watson, Kedar Jadhav, Ambati Rayudu, Billings and Bravo.
Kings XI Punjab batsmen who can make an impact in today's match against Chennai Super Kings: Aaron Finch didn’t have a memorable debut for KXIP; he was dismissed for a first-ball duck in the previous match, and will, therefore, be keen to get cracking. Even though the aggregate runs in his last four innings stands at 29, the Australian will be feeling confident, having scored three hundred so far this year – two of them in ODIs and one in the Sheffield Shield. While K L Rahul looked brilliant at the top of the batting order and look to extend his performance in today's match against Chennai Super Kings.
Chennai Super Kings bowlers to look forward to today: For CSK, the spin trio of Harbhajan Singh, Jadeja and Imran Tahir can be a potent force as they are complemented by Deepak Chahar, Watson and Shardul Thakur. With Dwayne Bravo as a brilliant death bowler, CSK has a formidable bowling line-up.
Kings XI Punjab bowlers to look forward to today: Punjab's bowlers are doing a fine job with 17-year-old spinner Mujeeb-ur-Rahman surprising the batsmen with his unconventional deliveries. He was even rewarded with the prize wicket of RCB skipper Virat Kohli. Apart from Ashwin, Mohit Sharma, Mujeeb, Axar Patel and Andrew Tye add depth to Punjab's bowling attack.
Blow to CSK as Raina out for the next two IPL 2018 matches: In a major blow to Chennai Super Kings, experienced batsman Suresh Raina has been ruled out of the franchise's next two Indian Premier League matches due to a calf injury. The 31-year-old sustained the injury during CSK's happy homecoming at MA Chidambaram Stadium, where the home franchise went on to clinch a five-wicket win over Kolkata Knight Riders in the last-over thriller on Tuesday. Raina experienced pain and required medical attention from the team physio Tommy Simsek after completing a single against West Indies' Sunil Narine in the 10th over. He struggled to run between the wickets before being eventually dismissed for 14 runs.
Have to find way to minimise injured Raina's loss, says CSK coach Fleming: Chennai Super Kings chief coach Stephen Fleming said the team has to find a way to minimise the loss of key injured player Suresh Raina. Raina is ruled out of next game against Kings XI Punjab after sustaining a calf muscle injury during the match against KKR. "Raina will certainly miss this game, the blessing is that we've got another four days in between and there might be a chance that he is fit again for the next game. We can't replace him. He is one of the best performer in the IPL and highest run scorer, so we can't replace him, but we have just got to find a way to minimise his loss. We have got good players in our set up. Dhruv Shorey, Murali Vijay who has played here (in Mohali) last year... So, these are guys with points to prove with international experience and when they get the chance they would do their best to do what Suresh Raina can do," said Fleming.
What Harbhajan Singh said about talent in Punjab and CSK's IPL prospects: There is no dearth of talent in Punjab but the state needs to create better infrastructure and provide more facilities to youngsters to hone their skills, senior cricketer Harbhajan Singh said. "We have fallen behind a lot. If you see, after me and Yuvi (Yuvraj Singh), no player played for India in cricket. I am not ready to accept that we are lacking in talent, talent is abundant. If we give good facilities and create good opportunities for the young talent, they will shine. We will not only create champions, but also create lot of healthy people and good citizens," Harbhajan Singh said.
Talking about CSK's IPL prospect Harbhajan said, "Hopefully, we can lift the trophy for Super Kings."
Here is how CSK and KXIP have performed agains each other head-to-head in IPL matches so far:
Overall
Matches played: 17
Kings XI Punjab won: 7
Chennai Super Kings won: 10
Some trivia ahead of today's match between KXIP and CSK