After a disappointing loss to Mumbai Indians, Chennai Super Kings will aim to return to winning ways when they take on Kings XI Punjab in IPL 2019 contest at the M.A. Chidambaram Stadium on Saturday.
Despite a fine start to their campaign, the defending champions lost the plot against Mumbai, thanks to Hardik Pandya’s all-round effort. Chennai may have won their first three matches, but the yellow brigade looked helpless in their last game and skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni will certainly try to bounce back against Punjab at home.
Ashwin didn’t include opener and self-proclaimed ‘Universe Boss’ Chris Gayle in the last game against Delhi Capitals as the opener was said to have been stiff. But Ashwin will look to bring back the senior pro in a high-voltage game. Looking at Chennai’s average bowling attack, Gayle could be the perfect man to open the innings for KXIP. Also, David Miller, Mandeep Singh and Sarfaraz Khan add depth to Punjab’s batting line-up but will have to come out with something special to handle the Chennai bowlers in their own backyard.
Expected playing 11
Chennai Super Kings: MS Dhoni, Suresh Raina, Ambati Rayudu, Shane Watson, Kedar Jadhav, Ravindra Jadeja, Dwayne Bravo, Imran Tahir, Deepak Chahar, Mohit Sharma, Shardul Thakur.
Kings XI Punjab: KL Rahul, Chris Gayle, Ravichandran Ashwin, Sarfaraz Khan, Mohammed Shami, Andrew Tye, Ankit Rajpoot, Mandeep Singh, David Miller, Mayank Agarwal, Sam Curran.
Dream 11 prediction: MS Dhoni, Suresh Raina, Kedar Jadhav, Ravindra Jadeja, Dwayne Bravo, KL Rahul, Chris Gayle, Ravichandran Ashwin, Sam Curran, Andrew Tye, Mohammad Shami
With IANS inputs