Predicted Playing XI of Chennai Super Kings for Match 29 of IPL 2023
CSK players celebrating a wicket. (Twitter)
The Chennai Super Kings (CSK) will be looking to continue their winning momentum as they host the Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in the match 29 of the ongoing IPL 2023 season at the MA Chidambaram Stadium on Friday, April 21.
CSK are coming off a clinical win over the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in their last league game. Heading into their third home game of the season, CSK will need some of their key players to step up if they want to continue with the winning momentum.
CSK skipper MS Dhoni doesn't like to tinker too much with the winning combination so it's most likely that the Yellow Army will be unchanged.
Let's take a look at CSK's possible playing XI:
Openers:
Ruturaj Gaikwad and Devon Conway
Gaikwad and Conway will be seen opening for CSK in the upcoming game. While the last couple of games have been poor for the right-handed Gaikwad, Conway has found his mojo back.
The left-handed Kiwi batter has scored back to back fifties, one of them came in Chepauk. Conway and Gaikwad have enjoyed batting with each other. Both of them play proper cricketing shots and complement each other really well.
Middle-order:
Ajinkya Rahane
Rahane has been in some form with the bat this season. It seems like he's a different player ever since he donned the yellow jersey. The right-handed batter has scored 129 runs in just three innings at a blistering strike rate of 195.45 so far. The team management has given him a clear role at number three and that's to play at a higher strike rate irrespective of the situation of the match.
Shivam Dube
CSK has used Shivam Dube as a floater this season. In the last match he came to bat at number four and scored his first fifty of the season. His contribution helped his team achieve a mammoth total. Dube is a spin-basher and in the middle-overs when SRH spinners will come into play, CSK is likely to send him at number four once again to neutralize SRH's spin threat.
Moeen Ali
The spin bowling has already won a man of the match award for his heroics with the ball against the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) in Chennai, Moeen lends balance to the team and against SRH, he will again be in focus.
Ravindra Jadeja
Jadeja has been a proven performer in the lucrative T20 tournament. He has been a marauder with the bat and played a role of a finisher to perfection in the last couple of seasons. He hasn't really set the stage on fire with the bat but with the ball, the left-arm spinner has taken six wickets in five IPL matches. Jadeja is expected to wreak havoc with the ball and provide the four-time champions with important breakthroughs in the game.
MS Dhoni
In the last game against RCB, MS Dhoni once again proved why he is highly regarded as a captain. At one stage, RCB were cruising towards the target and then Dhoni's brilliant captaincy pulled things back in CSK's favour. With the bat he is looking as dangerous as ever and he will once again be the man to keep an eye on for CSK if they want to win their fourth game of the ongoing season.
Bowlers:
Maheesh Theekshana
Theekshana has been a consistent performer in the shortest format of the game. He brings variety to the bowling attack and has been a proven wicket taker for the four-time IPL winners. Last game he went for a truckload of runs early in the game but he came back and got the wicket of dangerous looking Glenn Maxwell. In Chennai, he would be hoping that the pitch will offer assistance to the spinners.
Tushar Deshpande
Deshpande has been the standout performer with the ball for CSK. CSK's highest wicket taker in the 2023 season, Deshpande has taken seven wickets to his name in four matches. However, he has conceded runs at an alarming rate. The right-arm seamer has emerged as the leader of the pace attack.
Akash Singh
The 20-year-old Akash is one of the exciting prospects in the ongoing season of the cash-rich league. His addition to CSK's fast bowling arsenal has been a good one. In the last game, he knocked over Virat Kohli and that shall give him a lot of confidence to pick early wickets with the new ball against SRH.
Matheesha Pathirana
Often regarded as Baby Malinga, Pathirana lived up to his name and reputation of a death over specialist against RCB. The unorthodox pacer conceded only four runs in the 18th over and managed to keep his calm in the final over as well, conceding 10 runs and taking a wicket to help in his team's win. Pathirana would look to put his best foot forward in the forthcoming clash.
Probable Impact Players:
Ambati Rayudu, Shaik Rasheed, Rajvardhan Hangargekar, Subhranshu Senapati, Prashant Solanki
 "Vaibhav Tripathi")
