IPL 2022 Highlights RR vs CSK: Jaiswal, Ashwin secure 5-wicket win for Rajasthan against Chennai

“With legends like MSD, you just want them to go on and on. When SRT (Sachin Tendulkar) retired, it was such a sad occasion. Similarly, with MSD, we all know that these are going to be the few matches. We want him to carry on,” Gavaskar said on Star Sports pre-match show.

CSK captain MS Dhoni was impressed with the Sri Lankan youngster after his debut in the previous game against GT.

“I think Pathirana is an excellent death bowler. A bit similar to Malinga. With his action, the margin of error for him is quite big,” he had said.

Sanju Samson needs 58 more runs to reach 3,000 runs for the Rajasthan Royals in IPL. He will become the only second batter to reach this feat for the franchise after Ajinkya Rahane (3,098).

Obed McCoy made a surprise return to the RR XI in their previous game against Super Giants, and returned with a decent figure of 2/35. Will RR retain their faith in the West Indian, or will they enter the field with three overseas players again?

Sanju Samson's record against CSK has been the poorest of all IPL franchises (min. 10+ appearances against sides). He has scored only 182 runs in 11 innings against the Super Kings with the strike rate of 127.27.

Time to improve the record tonight?

Brabourne has been the best batting surface in IPL 2022 with an average first innings score of 179. With nothing to lose, CSK captain MS Dhoni might opt to set a target for the Royals in the game.

In addition, special focus will be on spinners, who have taken 69 wickets in IPL 2022 at the venue.

With a win, Rajasthan Royals will be assured of a second-placed finish in IPL 2022, and will take on the Gujarat Titans in Qualifier 1. However, if CSK beat RR, the Sanju Samson-led side will be playing in the eliminator against either RCB or DC.

Ruturaj Gaikwad, Devon Conway, Moeen Ali, Shivam Dube, N Jagadeesan, MS Dhoni(w/c), Mitchell Santner, Prashant Solanki, Simarjeet Singh, Matheesha Pathirana, Mukesh Choudhary, Dwayne Bravo, Robin Uthappa, Ambati Rayudu, Chris Jordan, Dwaine Pretorius, Tushar Deshpande, Hari Nishanth, Subhranshu Senapati, KM Asif, Rajvardhan Hangargekar, Maheesh Theekshana, Bhagath Varma

Yashasvi Jaiswal, Jos Buttler, Sanju Samson(w/c), Devdutt Padikkal, James Neesham, Riyan Parag, Ravichandran Ashwin, Trent Boult, Prasidh Krishna, Yuzvendra Chahal, Obed McCoy, Karun Nair, Rassie van der Dussen, Navdeep Saini, KC Cariappa, Shimron Hetmyer, Daryl Mitchell, Tejas Baroka, Kuldip Yadav, Anunay Singh, Kuldeep Sen, Dhruv Jurel, Shubham Garhwal, Corbin Bosch

Despite an inconsistent season, Ruturaj Gaikwad is the highest run-scorer for CSK (366 runs in 13 innings), which probably sums up their IPL 2022 campaign.. The second-highest is Shivam Dube (289 in 11 innings), who scored at a brilliant economy rate of 156.21.

Moeen Ali has not been in the best of form. He endured a poor IPL 2022 outing, scoring only 151 runs in nine innings at an average of 16.77.

With the ball, he took seven wickets in 9 matches. However, he has the second-best conomy rate for the Chennai Super Kings (6.90).

Sanju Samson has aggregated 359 runs in this season and has batted at three different positions. 77% of his runs have come while batting at #3.

Devdutt Padikkal has had an indifferent season so far (334 runs in 13 innings), but in the last three games, the left-hander has scored consistently for the side. Will he finally score big tonight?

RR's leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal is on the cusp of another record. He needs five more wickets to have most wickets by a RR bowler, he will surpass James Faulkner who picked 28 wickets in 2013.

Mukesh Choudhary has taken 11 wickets in the Powerplay for the Chennai Super Kings. His wicket-tally in the first six overs is the joint-highest in T20s this year, alongside Gujarat Titans' Mohammed Shami.

Sunil Gavaskar wants MS Dhoni to bat up in the order if this is his last game for CSK.

“He said that he'll be seen in the CSK yellow next year, whether as a player or as support staff we don't know yet. But if it is the last time (we are going to see him play for the franchise), I hope he bats up in the order to give us something to remember, just like that six (he hit) on April 2 2011.”

With 24 wickets, this is Yuzvendra Chahal best IPL season, if he gets three more wickets, he will surpass Imran Tahir’s tally of 26 wickets to have most wickets taken by a spinner in an IPL season.

MS Dhoni could reach 5,000 runs in IPL if he scores another 48 runs in the game tonight. Incidentally, Robin Uthappa is also 48 runs away from reaching the same figure.

Narayan Jagadeesan also played his first game of the season in the game against Titans. While he remained unbeaten on 39, his strike rate came under scanner, as he played 33 deliveries and couldn't deliver a strong finish for the side.

Will he retain his place in CSK's final match of the season?

With a Lasith Malinga-esque action, Matheesha Pathirana made his IPL debut with CSK in the side's previous game against Gujarat Titans last week. Pathirana ended with impressive figures of 2/24 in the game, and is expected to retain his spot in the side's final game of the season.

Jos Buttler, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Sanju Samson (c/wk), Devdutt Padikkal, Shimron Hetmyer, Riyan Parag, Ravichandran Ashwin, Yuzvendra Chahal, Obed McCoy, Prasidh Krishna, and Trent Boult

Ruturaj Gaikwad, Devon Conway, Moeen Ali, Shivam Dube, N Jagadeesan, MS Dhoni (c & wk), Mitchell Santner, Prashant Solanki/Maheesh Theekshana, Simarjeet Singh, Matheesha Pathirana/Rajvardhan Hangargekar, Mukesh Choudhary

Mukesh Choudhary stepped up for the CSK among Indian pacers in the absence of Deepak Chahar. He took 16 wickets in 12 matches for the side, and will look to end the season on a high when the side takes on RR.

In their last match, Chennai Super Kings handed a debut cap to youngster Prashant Solanki, who impressed with his economical figures of 0/18 in four overs.

Will CSK hand another debut cap tonight to their U19 World Cup star Rajvardhan Hangargekar?

The Royals camp received a major boost earlier this week when Shimron Hetmyer was confirmed to be available for the game against CSK. He is likely to return to the XI tonight, and is set to replace all-rounder James Neesham in the lineup.