Both Buttler and Jaiswal have two half-centuries each to their credit and have been scoring those runs at a rate of knots. However, that must be looked at in context of RR playing two of their three matches on the flat decks in Guwahati. In Chennai on Wednesday, the ball is expected to grip and spin on the Chepauk track that becomes slower with wear and tear.
The toss is always an important factor in Chennai as chasing anything above 170 to 175 can be a risky proposition. Especially when Moeen Ali, Ravindra Jadeja and Mitchell Santner are operating at the Chepauk and might bowl 10, if not 12, overs between them, matches can be won and lost there.
The three seasoned CSK campaigners have taken 11 wickets between them in three games but, more importantly their economy rate has been very impressive.
Moeen has bowled at an economy rate of 6.50 in two games while Jadeja (6.88) and Santner (6.75) have also gone for less than seven runs per over.
Moeen missed the last game due to food poisoning and is expected to play the game in place of Sisanda Magala, while Dwaine Pretorius will fill in as an all-rounder in case Ben Stokes is not fit.
But by no means Royals’ spinners could be taken lightly as the wily ‘Cricket Scientist’ Ravichandran Ashwin has played all his cricket at this very ground and the intelligent Yuzvendra Chahal can outfox any batter on a given day. Add the other Tamil Nadu spinner Murugan Ashwin in the mix and CSK will also have their own set of challenges.
However, CSK will be missing Deepak Chahar, who is expected to be out of the tournament due to recurrence of a left hamstring injury.
Whether Dhoni prefers the erratic but pacey Rajvardhan Hangargekar or the incisive Simarjeet Singh will be a big question.
On the batting front, the vastly experienced Ajinkya Rahane showed he too could score quickly on his CSK debut as the team turned in a strong performance with spinners Jadeja and Santner doing a fine job.
Add the good run of Ruturaj Gaikwad at the top of the order and CSK do have a formidable batting line-up. But they would be up against an equally well-endowed Royals team.
It promises to be an interesting battle on the morrow with the two sides boasting of a strong batting unit, and the onus would be on the bowlers to seize the moment.
In skipper Sanju Samson and Shimron Hetmyer, the Royals have batters who can play big shots and boost the score.
The pace unit comprising Trent Boult and Jason Holder looks better than CSK’s on paper but how the respective attacks fare on the given day could determine the game’s outcome.
The wicket at the MA Chidambaram stadium offered bounce in the game against Lucknow Super Giants and it remains to be seen if similar conditions are on offer.
(With agency inputs)
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