IPL 2021 Preview: In-form CSK lock horns with depleted KKR

There are few reasons why Chennai Super Kings are one of the most successful teams in the Indian Premier League. While they are consistent, the CSK team has a habit of learning quickly from their mistakes. The MS Dhoni-led side has just turned the tables for themselves after suffering a defeat in their opening match of the tournament against Delhi Capitals. 

Dhoni’s men made a fine return to form first with the ball against Punjab Kings restricting them to minimal total and later against the Rajasthan Royals on Monday where the positive aspect was the contributions made by all the batsmen to hand them a good and defendable total. 

Kolkata Knight Riders have had a totally opposite campaign so far. They began the proceedings on a positive note with a win against the Sunrisers Hyderabad but lost momentum after that to suffer defeats in the next two encounters against Mumbai Indians and Royal Challengers Bangalore respectively. 

In-form CSK vs depleted KKR 

Chennai Super Kings probably had a gala time during their clash against the Rajasthan Royals on Monday in Mumbai. It was a sheer all-round performance from the three-time champion team. They first dominated the RR bowling unit with some fireworks during the course of the innings and then rattled the Royals with a fine display of bowling. 

A major aspect or can say the positive that emerged for the Chennai-based franchise was that all the players had their roles fixed and they did perform in the best manner they could have. 

Faf du Plessis who opened the innings for CSK showed his class and took on the in-form fast bowler Jaydev Unadkat who was coming into the game with an economical spell of bowling in the previous match. 

Du Plessis gathered 18 runs in one over from Unadkat just with the boundaries which included his favourite stroke paddle sweep. While Du Plessis thoroughly dominated the RR bowling attack, Moeen Ali too showed up the reasons as to why he is known to be someone who has provided a perfect balance to CSK team. 

Apart from Moeen and Faf, the CSK middle order did play an important and crucial role in taking the total to 188/9 in 20 overs. Ambati Rayudu, Suresh Raina, Sam Curran and Dwayne Bravo played small cameos during the course. 

Coming down to the bowling, the Super Kings have one of the most steady attack. While Deepak Chahar can move the ball both ways, Curran fills in that place of the left-arm seamer perfectly. 

The spin department has got more strength after the inclusion of Moeen. The England cricketer along with Ravindra Jadeja is a lethal combination in itself and an instance of this was seen during the match between CSK and RR. 

Both Jadeja and Moeen took full advantage of the conditions and the track that did help the spinners a bit at the Wankhede stadium and shared a total of 5 wickets between themselves. In fact, the right-arm off-spinner Ali returned with brilliant figures of 3/7 in 3 overs. 

Apart from these four, the West Indies all-rounder Dwayne Bravo is also a prominent member of Chennai’s bowling arsenal. Bravo is one of the finest bowlers and probably the most intelligent one to bowl in the death overs. 

He has the ability to deceive the batsmen with his pace and Dhoni’s captaincy skills just add on to that talent. The right-handed medium pace bowler doesn’t let the opponent batsmen cut loose easily and resist the batsmen from scoring runs at a brisk pace in the death overs. 

One major reason for CSK's high success rate is their fielding. We all saw how Jadeja grabbed four catches and he has been doing that for ages now. CSK have probably ticked all the boxes to be called a “balanced side” for now. 

They are pretty sorted with their line up and don't really need to make much changes. The only thing that has been hurting them is the opening stand and Ruturaj Gaikwad’s awkwardness while batting. He is evidently not confident while he is out there in the middle. This is probably the only tweak that is required from the CSK management and think tank. 

Coming down to Kolkata Knight Riders and their “problems”. Well to begin with, the major and the most important cause of concern for KKR is their middle-order batting. While Shubman Gill and Nitish Rana have managed to give the Knight Riders a steady start, the team has missed out on taking the advantage of the opportunities. Eoin Morgan, Dinesh Karthik, Shakib and Andre Russell haven’t really done much justice to their calibre. 

Though Russell did try to chip in with some big hits during their last game against RCB but his efforts were not enough to take them over the line. 

KKR’s bowlers had a hard time against RCB when Glenn Maxwell and AB de Villiers hit them all around the park but the situation is still under control. Morgan doesn’t really need to make much changes in the bowling line up but he can still think of getting Kuldeep Yadav in place of either Harbhajan Singh or Varun Chakravarthy. A chinaman bowler is always an asset to the team. 

Kolkata though can expect something from the venue. They have struggled in Chennai but Mumbai has seen some high-scoring matches and the ball comes on to the bat quite nicely. If the experienced lads of the KKR camp fire, they can be dangerous for the opposition. 

Balancing act of Moeen Ali

“Moeen Ali is adding an all-round aspect to our game which we lacked last year. His contribution was just what we were looking for,” coach Fleming said in the post-match press conference after the match against RR. Well, the former New Zealand captain is on spot in his observation. 

Moeen has the ability to take on the bowlers right from the word go. The left-handed batsmen generally face a bit of trouble against short deliveries or those pitched on the back of the length but for Moeen, these sort of balls are the ones that fetch him easy boundaries. The left-handed batsman’s pull shot is on point.

Moeen’s contribution doesn’t just end with the bat. He is a handy bowler who can be a surprise package.  We witnessed this during the match against the Royals. As soon as the track had something to offer for spinners, Dhoni got Moeen into the act and what followed next was a forgettable side for RR for sure. 

He spun the web around the Rajasthan batsmen inviting them to attempt glory strokes off his bowling. While David Miller was trapped in front of the stumps by Moeen trying to sweep the ball, Chris Morris and Riyan Parag gave away their wickets after getting caught in the deep. 

The England all-rounder has certainly filled the void in the CSK team and some credit goes to Dhoni as well for using his services in a brilliant way. 

Derailed Russ

When you talk about Andre Russell, you ought to talk about some brutal knocks unleashed by this cricketer in the past. But from the last IPL edition, Russell has certainly lost that groove for which he was actually known in the business. 

The aggressive batsman did show a glimpse of his excellence in the previous game against RCB after he took on Yuzvendra Chahal. But that all went in vain as he failed to take his side over the line. 

Russell might have been struggling with his batting, he unfolded a fine piece of bowling display against the Mumbai Indians after bagging a fifer. The tactics of bowling wide Yorkers pinned around the fourth and fifth stump channel worked pretty well for him in that match as he returned with figures of 5/15 in 2 overs. 

But his change in technique with the ball went for a toss against RCB when AB de Villiers took up the challenge against the West Indian player. The former South African batsman had probably done his homework properly before coming out to bat. De Villiers totally disrupted Russell’s plans and smacked some good strokes to put him under pressure. 

This time the West Indian returned with figures of 0/38 in 2 overs. 

All said and done, KKR need a lot of planning before they come out to lock horns with CSK on Wednesday. 

Chennai Super Kings vs Kolkata Knight Riders: Match Details

Date: Wednesday, April 21, 2021

Time: 7:30 PM

Venue: Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai

Pitch Report & Toss

The pitch at the Wankhede Stadium produced a couple of high-scoring games. The dew is also a major factor in this part of the country. So, defending a total might be a tricky task here. The strip would have something to offer to the batsmen at least in the early stage of the game so if you win the toss bat first. 

Team News

CSK

The Chennai Super Kings are pretty sorted with whatever they have in their kitty. The team management and the captain are looking satisfied with the balance they have got and won’t be looking to make much of the changes. But we still might see a change in the opening partners. There is a possibility that Gaikwad faces the axe in the top-order while Robin Uthappa can find a place for himself. 

KKR

The Kolkata Knight Riders have an uphill task to get the momentum back. They are tottering at number fifth spot with just one win and two points under their belt. Eoin Morgan might not make much of the changes in the starting XI but the big guns need to fire and they should fire with all guns blazing. Two possible changes can be made in the team with, one, Kuldeep Yadav coming into the team in place of Harbhajan Singh. Another change that KKR might think of getting is someone like Ben Cutting against a half-fit Andre Russell. This should ideally give them an additional batting depth and a better-suited bowler in a potentially sluggish track.

Strongest XI

CSK: Robin Uthappa, Faf du Plessis, Moeen Ali, Suresh Raina, Ambati Rayudu, Ravindra Jadeja, MS Dhoni(w/c), Sam Curran, Dwayne Bravo, Shardul Thakur, Deepak Chahar

KKR: Nitish Rana, Shubman Gill, Rahul Tripathi, Eoin Morgan(c), Dinesh Karthik(w), Shakib Al Hasan, Andre Russell/Ben Cutting, Pat Cummins, Harbhajan Singh, Kuldeep Yadav, Prasidh Krishna

Fantasy XI

Nitish Rana, Faf du Plessis, Moeen Ali, Suresh Raina, Rahul Tripathi, Ravindra Jadeja, MS Dhoni, Andre Russell, Sam Curran, Shardul Thakur, Deepak Chahar