Kuldeep Yadav and Piyush Chawla (Courtesy: Twitter/KKR)
Chennai Super Kings are definitely the team to beat this season and one outfit that would like to get the better of the 'Yellow Brigade' is the Kolkata Knight Riders, who have had a poor head-to-head record against MS Dhoni's team over the years.
KKR have lost 11 matches against the men from Chennai and have managed to register only 6 wins. The men in purple lost a high scoring affair earlier this season as well. So, what can Dinesh Karthik do to stop the CSK juggernaut. Well, the answer could be in the past record of some of Chennai's in form batsmen against the spin trio of KKR.
Karthik needs to make the right bowling changes and take some bold calls in order to exploit the weaknesses of CSK's top batsmen.
1) GET NARINE AGAINST WATSON
Shane Watson, who will be eyeing to give CSK another flying start, has been suspect against the variety and spin of Sunil Narine. Watson has been dismissed on 5 occasions by Narine over the years, having scored 54 runs off 42 deliveries.
The problem that Karthik might face is that he has so far used Sunil Narine in the middle overs. But IF he wants Watson to face his nemesis then he would have to open the bowling with Narine. The West Indian has done that before for KKR and Karthik should use his experience to tame the burly Australian.
2) GET CHAWLA TO TAME RAYUDU
Ambati Rayudu has had perhaps his best IPL season so far and that is visible from the number of runs he has under his belt. The former Mumbai Indians batsman has taken to the yellow of CSK with pride and has done wonders with the bat for Dhoni's team. He has batted with a lot of guts and gumption as an opener and has also done well at the number 4 position.
Rayudu though doesn't have a great record against KKR's resident leggie Piyush Chawla. While the batsman has taken 63 runs off 36 deliveries bowled to him by the 2011 World Cup winner, Chawla has managed to dismiss Rayudu on four occasions.
The challenge here for Karthik would be to decide on bringing Chawla on to bowl depending upon where CSK send Rayudu out to bat. Chawla has opened the bowling for KKR this season and he should be the go to man if Rayudu comes out to open the innings
3) KULDEEP TO BAMBOOZLE IN FORM DHONI
MS Dhoni is having one of his best IPL season as he has managed to turn the clock back with his explosive hitting. Dhoni is reminding cricket fans and pundits in India about his hitting prowess with each innings in the league and KKR would want to see his back at the earliest.
Kuldeep Yadav could be the answer in this case as the chinaman bowler has managed to keep Dhoni quiet so far. He has dismissed Dhoni twice so far and managed to score only 26 runs off 21 deliveries.
Also Watch
Article 377 : 'The Lalit' Scion Keshav Suri Speaks About Life as a Gay Man and Why 377 Needs to Go
Live TV