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IPL 2021 | CSK vs RCB: In clash of the titans, fearless men of Dhoni face undefeated Challengers

Abhishek Singh

With the Indian Premier League finally getting into the competitive mood, the top two teams of the league so far, the Chennai Super Kings and Royal Challengers Bangalore square up against each other at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. First of the two battles on a Super Sunday, this promises to be a mouthwatering clash considering the possible match-ups in the contest. While RCB have not tasted defeat this season, MS Dhoni’s men have also won three on the trot after faltering in the first hurdle against the Delhi Capitals. 

Toughest hurdle for RCB bowlers

The batting lineup of the Chennai Super Kings is one of the deepest in the tournament. It has reaped rewards for the men in yellow as well with the team reaching past 180 in a game against Rajasthan Royals, even without a single batsman getting past the individual score of 40 runs. It is this longevity in the lineup that puts fear in the bowling camp because no matter how tight you bowl, the team in yellow, with so much batting reserve in the dressing room is always looking to go gung-ho against you in the game.

The RCB bowling has been phenomenal especially at the beginning of the innings with Mohammed Siraj and Kyle Jamieson’s swing and line and length. If that were not enough, then at the death, Harshal Patel has been chipping away with the wickets (he so far has 12 wickets in just four games). Thus the Challengers from Bangalore become a difficult bowling proposition to handle. 

However as was shown by the Rajasthan Royals, the red and gold have their vulnerabilities with the ball too and an in-form opening duo of Ruturaj Gaikwad and Faf du Plessis are more than capable enough to hurt Virat Kohli’s men. 

With Moeen Ali in the kind of destructive form that he is, followed by some master class from Chinna Thala [Suresh] Raina and Thala Dhoni, RCB bowlers need to put their best foot forward in their toughest ever game so far. 

No total is big enough for in form RCB

The Chennai Super Kings also need to be wary of the fact that they would have a very tough batting lineup for their bowlers to face. If the pitch turns, then it could be an easy way out, but if not, then the likes of Devdutt Padikkal, Glenn Maxwell and of course in form Virat Kohli could mount a lot of runs against a mostly one-dimensional bowling attack of the Super Kings. 

Even against the likes of Pat Cummins and Andre Russell of the Knight Riders, the CSK bowling was exposed, there is no doubt as to why it can’t be manipulated by the Royal challengers. Thus in the face of such adversity, their magical skipper Dhoni will need to pull out some trick of the back of his hand and create matchups like Deepak Chahar’s swing vs RCB openers, Ravindra Jadeja’s wicket to wicket line to destabilise Maxwell and Lungi Ngidi well-directed bouncers against the Indian batsmen and Moeen Ali. This seems like the only plausible way to counter the RCB batting. 

Chennai Super Kings vs Royal Challengers Bangalore: Match Details

Match Number- 19

Date and Time: April 25, 2021, 03:30 pm IST, 10:00 am GMT

Venue: Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai

Broadcast and Live Stream: Star Sports and Hotstar

Pitch Report

The Wankhede wicket has shown in various games played at it that it can offer a bit of turn, as would be true for all Indian wickets at this time of the year. The turn gets more pronounced if both the wicket and the ball are dry and a day game presents such a situation. This would be the first day game at the venue, thus predicting how the wicket would behave, is not an easy task. However, bounce can always be trusted at Wankhede and thus an average score of 170 should not be a problem in the first innings if the ball doesn’t turn square. 

Weather and Toss

The weather during the game is going to remain sunny and thus a team winning the toss would go with the best possible option of batting second. It would not only make the wicket better to bat at later on but would also give a definite target for the batters to chase. 

Team News

Chennai Super Kings

Dwayne Bravo was rested in the last game as per skipper Dhoni. Now, would he be played or would Lungi Ngidi be trusted with the ball once again is for time to tell. As far as winning combination disturbance is concerned, Dhoni is not known for that, so a no change CSK is a likely outcome as far as team combination is concerned. 

Strongest XI

Ruturaj Gaikwad, Faf du Plessis, Moeen Ali, Suresh Raina, Ambati Rayudu, Ravindra Jadeja, MS Dhoni (c & wk), Sam Curran, Shardul Thakur, Lungi Ngidi, Deepak Chahar

Royal Challengers Bangalore

The RCB too look settled for the Mumbai wicket. They brought in Kane Richardson in place of Rajat Patidar, although Daniel Sams with his all-around ability and left-arm pace option seemed more favoured. Will Kohli send back Richardson to get in Sams, would be interesting to see. 

Strongest XI

Virat Kohli (c), Devdutt Padikkal, Shahbaz Ahmed, Glenn Maxwell, AB de Villiers (wk), Washington Sundar, Kyle Jamieson, Kane Richardson, Harshal Patel, Mohammed Siraj, Yuzvendra Chahal

Dream XI Predictions / Fantasy XI Suggestions 

MS Dhoni (wk), Virat Kohli (c), Faf du Plessis (vc), Ruturaj Gaikwad, Devdutt Padikkal, Moeen Ali, Glenn Maxwell, Washington Sundar, Deepak Chahar, Harshal Patel, Mohammed Siraj  

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