The clash between the Chennai Super Kings and the Mumbai Indians would have been a clash of titans and have always been in the past encounters but the story is different this time around. The Super Kings are on a downward slope and have struggled to find a proper playing XI and ‘spark’ in players while the Mumbai Indians have been a force to reckon with in the ongoing season of the Indian Premier League. Mumbai’s bowling attack has looked menacing, to say the least with the likes of Jasprit Bumrah, Trent Boult, James Pattinson whereas the bowlers in yellow have failed to step up to the challenges posed by conditions completely alien to what would be normal at Chepauk in Chennai.
Interestingly, these two teams started the IPL 2020 with a bang with MS Dhoni-led CSK dominating Rohit Sharma’s Mumbai Indians and it appeared that Dhoni’s men were ready to bury the ghost of Mumbai against whom they have a terrible record in the near past. CSK started their campaign on a resounding note while the Mumbai Indians had to find out answers to some questions that were put in front of them in the very first game. One month into the tournament and now it looks like the men in blue have found the problems and also their solutions while the men in yellow could not do justice to the big name and reputation it always rides on.
The Super Kings have been blamed for showing a lack of courage and innovation in all processes of the game starting from team selection to outlook of batting at the start and in the middle overs. The team banked on experience more than the enthusiasm and energy of young players to do the job and after failing to achieve the goal, MS Dhoni almost conceded the season is over and hinted that youngsters will have a chance to go and express themselves with the pressure of losing now becoming irrelevant for the side.
CSK’s coach Stephen Fleming said something after the loss against the Rajasthan Royals which nobody would have expected him to say before the commencement of the IPL 2020. He acknowledged that the team they picked after returning from a ban in the 2018 edition may well have run out of juice after a three-year-cycle which started with an IPL title followed by an IPL final in the last season. The statement was telling of what the days ahead may look like for the Super Kings and the team may go for an all-reset option before the IPL next year.
Mumbai, on the other hand, will love to get back on the winning track after the loss in a euphoric against the Kings XI Punjab that went down to the wire and ended only after two super overs. Kieron Pollard had said that the team was disappointed but he felt that it was not the end of life and it showed the kind of mood in Mumbai’s camp. Mumbai was brilliant in the last game but was overrun by a resurgent Kings XI Punjab and now Rohit would remind his teammates about the warning he had issued about teams trying to catch up his side as the remaining days in the tournament are getting lesser and lesser.
The outcome of the match will impact the points table minimally but Rohit would be hopeful of a win to come back to winning habit as he knows the value of momentum in tournaments such as the IPL.
Chennai’s top order has failed to start at a brisk pace and their job is not getting any easier with Bumrah, Boult, and one of Pattinson or Nathan Coulter-Nile bowling to them in the powerplay.
Match Number- 41
Date: 23rd October 2020, at 7:30 PM IST, 06:00 PM Local, 2.00 PM GMT
Venue: Sharjah
Broadcast: Star Sports and Hotstar
This will be the ninth match to be played at the Sharjah cricket ground and the Chennai Super Kings and Mumbai Indians will meet on a new pitch. A new pitch will help batsmen more than bowlers as the par scores have been reduced in the last few matches due to slowing pitches. A slight newish pitch will assist batsmen as balls will come nicely onto the bat. Captain winning the toss will be looking forward to chasing with short boundaries and expectations of a true pitch.
The weather in Sharjah will be cooler in the evening time and humidity will hover around the 50 per cent range.
Both MS Dhoni and Stephen Fleming subtly hinted that youngsters will be given a chance with their chance to make it into the playoffs looking bleak. That would mean a return for one of Ruturaj Gaikwad and N Jagadeesan. They will have a point to prove after the remarks from MS Dhoni about the lack of spark in them to push experienced guys in the playing XI. Dwayne Bravo has been ruled out of the tournament and it will allow Josh Hazlewood a longer rope in the playing XI.
Faf du Plessis, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Shane Watson, Ambati Rayudu, MS Dhoni (c & wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Sam Curran, Deepak Chahar, Piyush Chawla, Shardul Thakur, Josh Hazlewood
Rohit Sharma’s team lost the last game but did not look out of the game till the winning shot by Mayank Agarwal and he would not be looking to change the playing XI. Nathan Coulter-Nile is likely to be persisted with as Rohit will be eyeing in options before the playoffs begin to have a proper backup ready in case of some injuries in the knockout phase of the league.
Rohit Sharma (c), Quinton de Kock (wk), Suryakumar Yadav, Ishan Kishan, Hardik Pandya, Kieron Pollard, Krunal Pandya, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Rahul Chahar, Trent Boult, Jasprit Bumrah
Quinton de Kock, Faf du Plessis, Ambati Rayudu, Hardik Pandya, Rohit Sharma, Sam Curran, Kieron Pollard, Deepak Chahar, Karn Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah, Trent Boult
Captain: Rohit Sharma
Vice-captain: Faf du Plessis
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