IPL 2021 Highlights, CSK vs RR: Chennai Super Kings beat Rajasthan Royals by 45 runs

MS Dhoni, CSK captain: "No changes for us. Same team. Getting out on good deliveries is okay. Last year would have taught him (Ruturaj) on the highs and lows. As support staff, you can motivate all you want but one you are out there, you are on your own. The pitch looks a bit tacky to start with. Needs to assess things as it comes and also need to keep an eye out on the dew."

Sanju Samson, RR captain: "We're going to bowl first. It suits well in these conditions. We just need to keep it simple, we trust our team and teammates. We bat really deep. Knowing that you have a deep batting line-up allows you to express yourself. Same team. They're a tough opposition, we respect them but we're sure of giving them a tough competitive game."

Both Rajasthan Royals and Chennai Super Kings are going unchanged from their winning combinations from their previous matches.

Rajasthan Royals win toss, elect to bowl against Chennai Super Kings in Mumbai.

Deepak Chahar | CSK: Even the first match we played here, the ball didn't swing and we had to adjust accordingly. The dew plays a big role here and obviously we have a lot of plans (when the ball doesn't swing as much). When there is dew the knuckle ball is very difficult to bowl and the yorkers are also very difficult to execute as we have seen yesterday a lot of full tosses with the wet ball. You got to back yourself and just bowl according to the field and bowl according to the batsman as well. The way we started the first game, the wicket was slightly slow and still we managed to score in excess of 190 and last game we bowled well, so that gave us a lot of confidence as a team.

Shivam Dube: Feeling good as I'm playing with a new franchise, I'm really excited. I know the skipper (Samson) since a long time, he's a friend of mine. It's not a new role for me, I'm used to it. I focus on one game at a time, not thinking much about the World Cup. Wankhede is my home ground, so I know it's important to score as many runs as possible. It's important to take early wickets at this venue, because even 200 is quite chaseable here.

David Miller speaks before the match: It's always nice to be in the middle and spend some time. It's been a while for me since playing the IPL, it's really enjoyable. It's nice to get the opportunity and put the hand up when needed. It's another game and we gotta start all over again. We've been discussing in the team meetings to assess the conditions and play accordingly. Hopefully, it's a good wicket. It's about putting all the three facets together and so far there have been some good team performances and it would be ideal to build some proper momentum early on in the tournament. I knew he (Chris Morris) was gonna win for us, I wasn't nervy at all. We know his capabilities and hopefully, he can continue. Sticking to the basics, they've (CSK) got experienced players, if we can knock them over early doors, it will be great.

"I want to compare the two venues. Down south in Chennai, it's been a bat-first situation. 6 games played, 5 of them have won by teams batting first. It's a turnaround here at Wankhede. 5 games played, 4 of them have won by the teams chasing and the other game separated by a solitary run. It means pitches here have offered either swing or seam to those bowling first or it's been generally a good chasing ground because of moisture later on. This one is pitch number 6 where there was 147 scored where there was swing and seam. It looks drier and warmer today. If the ball swings, it won't be because of the moisture on the surface. So, in the first 10 overs, you've gotta hit that good length area. The strike rate of bowlers who hit that area is much better but the trouble for bowlers later in the game is that little bit of dew that appears and allows the ball to slide onto the bat and the batsmen then feast on it. Great skill needs to come into play and once again yorkers in the second half of the innings is going to be key," Ian Bishop with the pitch report.

In Ben Stokes' absence, Chris Morris will have to be the key player for RR. After his performance against DC, he would be feeling the confidence.

Squads:

Chennai Super Kings Squad: Ruturaj Gaikwad, Faf du Plessis, Moeen Ali, Suresh Raina, Ambati Rayudu, Sam Curran, MS Dhoni(w/c), Ravindra Jadeja, Dwayne Bravo, Shardul Thakur, Deepak Chahar, Robin Uthappa, Cheteshwar Pujara, Karn Sharma, Imran Tahir, Krishnappa Gowtham, Lungi Ngidi, Mitchell Santner, Ravisrinivasan Sai Kishore, Hari Nishanth, N Jagadeesan, KM Asif, Harishankar Reddy, Bhagath Varma, Jason Behrendorff

Rajasthan Royals Squad: Jos Buttler, Manan Vohra, Sanju Samson(w/c), Shivam Dube, David Miller, Riyan Parag, Rahul Tewatia, Chris Morris, Jaydev Unadkat, Chetan Sakariya, Mustafizur Rahman, Andrew Tye, Shreyas Gopal, Liam Livingstone, KC Cariappa, Mahipal Lomror, Mayank Markande, Anuj Rawat, Kartik Tyagi, Kuldip Yadav, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Akash Singh

Total number of matches played: 24

Matches won by CSK: 14

Matches won by RR: 10

Matched played in India: 19 (CSK 11, RR 8)

Matches played outside India: 5 (CSK 3, RR 2)

CSK average score against RR: 163

RR average score against CSK: 156

Most runs for CSK: 638 (Suresh Raina)

Most runs for RR: 216 (Jos Buttler)

Most wickets for CSK: 15 (Dwayne Bravo and Ravindra Jadeja)

Most wickets for RR: 5 (Shreyas Gopal)

Most catches for CSK: 16 (Suresh Raina and MS Dhoni)

Most catches for RR: 7 (Jos Buttler)

RR allrounder Chris Morris was the hero of the previous game. Here is what he said about his heroic effort against DC: "There are guys who get paid to bat and there are guys who get paid to slog, I know what I am. I am a slogger that swings everything I can, I play so much golf."

"Moeen is a very good timer of the ball and plays authentic shots. We felt if Moeen bats up the order, we can make use of the resources that we got. We have to make the most of our resources." - MS Dhoni on using one of his newer recruits up the order.

- Suresh Raina has 609 runs in 21 innings against RR, including four half-centuries.

- Ravindra Jadeja has picked 16 wickets in as many games against RR

- Sanju Samson has had a tournament of two halves since IPL 2018: Average in the first three games - 67.56; Average for the rest of the tournament - 16.41

- This game will be MS Dhoni's 200th game in the IPL as CSK captain

Source: Cricbuzz

Robin Uthappa, Faf du Plessis, Moeen Ali, Suresh Raina, Cheteshwar Pujara, MS Dhoni (c/wk), Dwayne Bravo, Sam Curran, Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Deepak Chahar

Jos Buttler, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Sanju Samson (C & WK), David Miller, Mahipal Lolmror, Riyan Parag, Rahul Tewatia, Chris Morris, Jaydev Unadkat, Chetan Sakariya, Mustafizur Rahman

CSK have the advantage with 14 wins while Rajasthan have won 9. However, RR won both their encounters against CSK in IPL 2020.

Hello and welcome to the live blog of the IPL 2021 match between Chennai Super King vs Rajasthan Royals in Mumbai. Both teams are coming off wins in their previous matches and would be looking to continue the momentum on Monday.