CSK vs RCB Preview, IPL 2021: It’s Dhoni vs Kohli in clash of table-toppers

By IANS

MUMBAI: Table-toppers Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) will take on second-placed Chennai Supers Kings (CSK) in what will be a battle between the current India captain Virat Kohli and former India captain MS Dhoni in an Indian Premier League match at the Wankhede Stadium on Sunday afternoon.

While RCB have a clean slate, having won four out of four matches in the tournament so far, CSK have won three out of their four matches.

Both the teams have looked in great form although CSK would be a tad worried with the way their bowling wilted under the onslaught from Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) lower order comprising Andre Russell, Dinesh Karthik and Pat Cummins, in their last match. The KKR trio took their team from 31/5 to 202 and just 18 runs short of CSK total.

With RCB batting looking by far the best in the tournament, CSK need to be wary. Devdutt Padikkal and skipper Kohli shared an unbeaten 181-run partnership for the opening wicket as RCB romped to a 10-wicket win over Rajasthan Royals.

Glenn Maxwell and AB de Villiers are also in the RCB line-up, meaning CSK will have to bowl really well to stop the Bengaluru franchise from putting up a big score.

For CSK, the concern will be the form of Suresh Raina and Ambati Rayudu. While both openers Ruturaj Gaikwad and Faf du Plessis have done well, the decision to promote Moeen Ali to No. 3 has also paid dividends as the left-handed batsman has batted aggressively.

However, Raina and Rayudu haven’t done much and instead have been guilty of throwing their wickets away.

MS Dhoni will also be in focus as he has looked to promote himself and play some shots. CSK’s back-end though, with Sam Curran, Ravindra Jadeja and Dwayne Bravo has been quite good and effective.

Squads:

Chennai Super Kings: MS Dhoni (captain/wicketkeeper), Suresh Raina, Narayan Jagadeesan, Ruturaj Gaikwad, KM Asif, Karn Sharma, Ambati Rayudu, Deepak Chahar, Faf du Plessis, Shardul Thakur, Mitchell Santner, Dwayne Bravo, Lungi Ngidi, Sam Curran, Ravindra Jadeja, Imran Tahir, Robin Uthappa, Moeen Ali, K Gowtham, Cheteshwar Pujara, M. Harisankar Reddy, K.Bhagath Varma, C Hari Nishaanth, R Sai Kishore, Jason Behrendorff.

Royal Challengers Bangalore: Virat Kohli (captain), Devdutt Padikkal, Finn Allen (wicket-keeper), AB de Villiers (wicket-keeper), Pavan Deshpande, Washington Sundar, Daniel Sams, Yuzvendra Chahal, Adam Zampa, Shahbaz Ahmed, Mohammed Siraj, Navdeep Saini, Kane Richardson, Harshal Patel, Glenn Maxwell, Sachin Baby, Rajat Patidar, Mohammed Azharuddeen, Kyle Jamieson, Daniel Christian, Suyash Prabhudessai, K.S. Bharat.

Match starts at 3.30 p.m.