Top of the table Chennai Super Kings (CSK) will take on the Rajasthan Royals (RR) at the Sawai Mansingh stadium in Jaipur on April 27. CSK have so far won five and lost two of their seven games. They will be looking for their fourth consecutive win in the game against RR. The Dhoni-led side lost the season opener against Gujarat Titans. But they bounced back in style against the Lucknow Super Giants in their first home game of the season. The Super Kings then made it two wins in a row as they beat Mumbai Indians by seven wickets at the Wankhede Stadium. CSK narrowly lost the reverse fixture to the Rajasthan Royals at Chepauk by 3 runs. CSK then got back to winning ways as they beat the Royal Challengers Bangalore in a tense finish at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru. Last time out, CSK beat KKR comprehensively in Kolkata by 49 runs as their batters smashed the ball all over the park to make it three wins in a row.
Ajinkya Rahane's whirlwind 71*(29), Shivam Dube's blistering 50 (21) coupled with Conway's stylish 56 (40) powered CSK to a mammoth 235/4. A collective bowling effort saw the bowlers pick up regular wickets and restrict KKR to 186/8 to achieve a comprehensive win. CSK would be happy with the consistency of their batters as they have been one of the best batting sides in the league so far.
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Ruturaj Gaikwad has scored 270 runs so far this season. Devon Conway is the top-scorer for the team with 314 runs in seven innings and has already scored four half-centuries. Shivam Dube and Ajinkya Rahane have chipped in with 184 and 209 runs respectively. Ambati Rayudu, Ravindra Jadeja and MS Dhoni have also chipped in with important rus down the order.
CSK currently have a few players unavailable with injuries. Ben Stokes has been recovering from a minor injury in the last few games and is being monitored on a daily basis. While Deepak Chahar and Sisanda Magala are also expected to return to fitness in the next couple of weeks. CSK had already lost Mukesh Choudhary and Kyle Jamieson to injury before the season had started. The Sri Lankan duo of Maheesh Theekshana and Matheesha Pathirana have done well in the team in the absence of the first choice bowlers.
{{/usCountry}}CSK currently have a few players unavailable with injuries. Ben Stokes has been recovering from a minor injury in the last few games and is being monitored on a daily basis. While Deepak Chahar and Sisanda Magala are also expected to return to fitness in the next couple of weeks. CSK had already lost Mukesh Choudhary and Kyle Jamieson to injury before the season had started. The Sri Lankan duo of Maheesh Theekshana and Matheesha Pathirana have done well in the team in the absence of the first choice bowlers.
{{/usCountry}}Tushar Deshpande is currently the highest wicket-taker with twelve scalps but he has conceded almost eleven runs an over. Ravindra Jadeja has also picked up ten wickets and Moeen Ali has picked seven wickets so far. Akash Singh, Hangargekar, Pathirana, Theekshana and Santner have also chipped in with 19 wickets between them so far. CSK are expected to be unchanged for the clash with RR in Jaipur.
Subhranshu Senapati, Shaik Rasheed, Ambati Rayudu, Simarjeet Singh and Akash Singh could be the options for Impact player.
Here’s CSK’s likely XI vs RR:
Openers: Ruturaj Gaikwad, Devon Conway.
Top and Middle Order: Ajinkya Rahane, MS Dhoni (c) (wk).
All-Rounders: Ravindra Jadeja, Shivam Dube, Moeen Ali.
Pacers: Tushar Deshpande, Maheesh Theekshana, Matheesha Pathirana, Akash Singh.
Impact Player
CSK are expected to use among Subhranshu Senapati, Shaik Rasheed, Ambati Rayudu, Simarjeet Singh and Akash Singh for their Impact Player option, depending on when they bat or bowl first.