IPL 2020, KKR vs CSK LIVE: KKR have plenty of resources in bowling but Karthik it seems has not been able to manage them well and their match against Delhi Capitals could be a case in point. (BCCI/IPL)IPL 2020, KKR vs CSK Team Predicted Playing 11 for Today Match LIVE Updates: MS Dhoni-led Chennai Super Kings (CSK) would look to maintain their form against Dinesh Karthik’s Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in the clash tonight. The teams will lock horns at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi on Wednesday.
FOLLOW: IPL 2020, KKR vs CSK LIVE
CSK secured an impressive win against Kings XI Punjab in their previous clash, with opener Shane Watson finally finding some form. KKR, on the other hand, have had a decent outing but would look to improve. Their Caribbean forces, Andre Russell and Sunil Narine are yet to fire big and team would hope for a better show. The team might also consider dropping Narine for this clash and try an experiment with young English opener Tom Banton, who is yet to play a single match in this edition of IPL.
Shane Watson, Faf du Plessis, Ambati Rayudu, MS Dhoni(w/c), Kedar Jadhav, Ravindra Jadeja, Dwayne Bravo, Sam Curran, Karn Sharma, Shardul Thakur, Deepak Chahar
Shubman Gill, Sunil Narine, Nitish Rana, Andre Russell, Dinesh Karthik(w/c), Eoin Morgan, Pat Cummins, Rahul Tripathi, Kamlesh Nagarkoti, Shivam Mavi, Varun Chakravarthy
Kolkata Knight Riders have won the toss and have opted to bat
Shubman Gill, Tom Banton, Nitish Rana, Andre Russell, Dinesh Karthik (c, wk), Eoin Morgan, Pat Cummins, Kuldeep Yadav, Shivam Mavi, Kamlesh Nagarkoti, Varun Chakravarthy.
Faf du Plessis, Shane Watson, Ambati Rayudu, MS Dhoni (c, wk), Kedar Jadhav, Ravindra Jadeja, Dwayne Bravo, Sam Curran, Shardul Thakur, Piyush Chawla, Deepak Chahar.
Tom Banton was one of the best finds of 2019. His flamboyance and stroke-making abilities have constantly drawn him comparisons to Jos Buttler and Kevin Pietersen. (KKR.in)
Chennai finally have started to come on their own after three losses on the trot and the MS Dhoni-led side would look to make their ascent to top-four from being at the bottom. Not known to tweak his side much, Dhoni persisted with Shane Watson and the Aussie veteran finally came to form with an unbeaten 83. Chasing 179 against Kings XI Punjab, Watson and Faf du Plessis made light work of their bowlers in a record 181-run unbeaten stand to seal the chase. The coming to form of the misfiring top order is what CSK needed to give the impetus to the side as they would certainly look favourites against a struggling KKR.
Kolkata Knight Riders' reliable batting star Nitish Rana still has to show the spark of his bat as the southpaw has scored just 130 runs in four matches played so far in the IPL 2020. The team management would be expecting even more from the talented hitter.
Kolkata Knight Riders fast bowler Ali Khan, who had become the first USA cricketer to be signed by an Indian Premier League franchise, has been ruled out of the tournament due to an injury.
A media advisory from IPL confirmed his injury but did not provide any details.
The two-times winners had signed Khan as a replacement for the injured English seamer Harry Gurney ahead of the tournament.
"Khan became the first USA cricketer to be signed up by an IPL franchise. Unfortunately, Khan has since been injured and will miss the rest of the Dream11 IPL 2020 season," the statement read.
The 29-year-old was also part of title-winning Trinbago Knight Riders squad in the Caribbean Premier League, which was played in August-September. The Pakistan-born American had picked up eight wickets in the tournament.
- PTI
Sunil Narine has looked woefully out of sorts, managing only 27 runs from four matches at 87.09 strike rate. Is it time to rope in BBL sensation Tom Banton in place of the Windies cricketer?
Kolkata Knight Riders fast bowler Ali Khan, who had become the first USA cricketer to be signed by an Indian Premier League franchise, has been ruled out of the tournament due to an injury. A media advisory from IPL confirmed his injury but did not provide any details. The two-times winners had signed Khan as a replacement for the injured English seamer Harry Gurney ahead of the tournament.
"Khan became the first USA cricketer to be signed up by an IPL franchise. Unfortunately, Khan has since been injured and will miss the rest of the Dream11 IPL 2020 season," the statement read. The 29-year-old was also part of title-winning Trinbago Knight Riders squad in the Caribbean Premier League, which was played in August-September. The Pakistan-born American had picked up eight wickets in the tournament.
Facing criticism for a below par show despite having a star-studded line up, skipper Dinesh Karthik needs some quick soul searching to find answers in the clash tonight.
The team acquired England’s World Cup-winning skipper Eoin Morgan but the KKR management, reposed confidence in Karthik and asked him to lead the side.
However, a few of his baffling decisions apart from his own poor run with the bat — 37 runs from four matches — has put the Indian wicketkeeper-batsman in the line of fire.
Promoting himself ahead of the star duo of Morgan and Andre Russell and preferring Sunil Narine in the opening slot over Big Bash sensation Tom Banton — who has been compared with Kevin Pietersen — has put 35-year-old Karthik in the dock.
A former CSK player, S Badrinath weighs his thoughts on the clash tonight.
The two teams have faced each other 20 times so far, with CSK holding a 13-7 head-to-head win/loss record over KKR. Chennai beat Kolkata in both the clashes last edition, and Imran Tahir put up standout performances (2/21 and 4/27) in the two matches.
Sunil Gavaskar was on air when Delhi Capitals off-spinner R Ashwin stopped in his delivery stride on spotting Royal Challengers Bangalore opener Aaron Finch way outside the crease. Though Ashwin didn’t run him out, the seasoned commentator feels that batsmen who try to take unfair advantage should pay the price. Gavaskar calls the spirit of cricket a mythical concept and also explains why while calling Monday’s game, he said “Ashwin had tried to ‘Brown’ Finch”. | READ EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW |
Iconic West Indian cricketer Brian Lara says "great batsman" KL Rahul shouldn't be bothered with wicket-keeping in the Indian team and he should be allowed to concentrate on his batting. Lara also feels that Rishabh Pant has matured in the past year and he should be considered as India's number one wicketkeeper-batsman. Rahul did a great job keeping wickets in the limited overs series against Australia and also during the India's tour of New Zealand earlier this year.
The Indian team also experimented with Rahul's batting position and he had delivered. "Well, first of all I would like to say that KL Rahul should not be bothered with wicket-keeping when it comes to that Indian squad," Lara said on 'Cricket Connected'. "He's such a great batsman that I feel that he should concentrate on that and put in a lot of runs on the board," he added.
KKR at this venue: Played 5, Won 2, Lost 3
CSK at this venue: Played 3, Won 2, Lost 1