It is that time of the year when the loyalties of the Indian cricket fans will be split. It is that time of the year when the best players in the world will congregate to feature in arguably the most lucrative T20 league in the world.
The second leg of the 14th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) will commence on 19th September 2021, with a blockbuster ‘box office’ clash between two of the most successful franchises in IPL history, Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and Mumbai Indians (MI). These two sides have won a staggering 8 IPL titles between them.
And, both Chennai and Mumbai will be led by two legendary captains. MS Dhoni, the skipper of the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) side is the wizard of the T20 format. He has experienced unprecedented success as a T20 skipper, has been the captain of the Chennai side ever since the inception of the IPL, and has led the ‘Yellow Brigade’ to 3 IPL trophies. His opposite number, Rohit Sharma has a resume that can rival Dhoni himself, as the Mumbai side has won a whopping 5 IPL titles, all under Rohit’s leadership.
Both Chennai and Mumbai finished inside the top 4 when the first half of the tournament ended. While the Chennai side is placed at the 2nd place in the IPL points table, having won 5 out of their 7 matches, the Mumbai side is currently occupying the 4th spot in the IPL points table, having emerged victorious in 4 out of their 7 games. When these two teams met in the first half of the IPL, the Mumbai Indians won a high-scoring humdinger of a contest with 4 wickets to spare, courtesy of a murderous 87* from Kieron Pollard.
For Chennai, the likes of Moeen Ali and Faf du Plessis set the stage on fire with the willow in the first half of the tournament. While du Plessis plundered 320 runs in 7 innings at an average of 64.00, Moeen Ali scored 206 runs in 6 innings at an excellent strike rate of 157.25. Sam Curran was extremely impressive with the ball and scalped 9 wickets for the MS Dhoni-led side. However, du Plessis and Curran will most likely miss the opening match of IPL Phase 2 against Mumbai.
Rohit Sharma was in good form in the first half of the tournament for the Mumbai side. The ‘Hitman’ scored 250 runs at an average of 35.71 and a strike rate of close to 130 in the first leg. On the bowling front, Rahul Chahar was extremely impressive for the ‘Men in Blue’. The leg spinner picked up 11 wickets in IPL Phase 1 and scalped his wickets at an average of just 18.36.
So, the second leg of the IPL is upon us. As usual, there will be a lot of surprises, breathtaking performances, and spine-tingling moments that will leave us dazed. Fasten your seatbelts, as the Indian T20 carnival is upon us!
Pitch and Conditions
The pitch in Dubai will be one where spinners will get the ball to grip and turn. Batsmen will have to apply themselves to score runs on this surface. The boundaries are also on the bigger side as well.
Playing Combinations for CSK vs MI
Chennai Super Kings
For the Chennai side, Faf du Plessis and Sam Curran might not take the field for the opening rubber. This means that if du Plessis is sidelined, then Robin Uthappa will open the batting alongside Ruturaj Gaikwad. Suresh Raina, Moeen Ali, and Ambati Rayudu will occupy the No.3, No.4, and No.5 positions respectively, while skipper MS Dhoni is slated to come in at No.6.
The two all-rounders whom the Chennai Super Kings are likely to field are Ravindra Jadeja and Dwayne Bravo. While Shardul Thakur and Deepak Chahar are confirmed to take the field, one out of Josh Hazlewood or Imran Tahir will complete the playing XI.
Predicted XI: Faf du Plessis/Robin Uthappa, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Suresh Raina, Moeen Ali, Ambati Rayudu, MS Dhoni (c and wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Dwayne Bravo, Shardul Thakur, Deepak Chahar, Josh Hazlewood/Imran Tahir
Bench: Faf du Plessis/Robin Uthappa, KM Asif, Jason Behrendorff, Bhagath Verma, Krishnappa Gowtham, Imran Tahir/Josh Hazlewood, Narayan Jagadeesan, Lungi Ngidi, Cheteshwar Pujara, Harishankar Reddy, R Sai Kishore, Karn Sharma, Sam Curran
Mumbai Indians
For the Mumbai Indians, the left-right combination of Rohit Sharma and Quinton De Kock will open the batting. While Suryakumar Yadav and Ishan Kishan will occupy the No.3 and No.4 slots, big-hitting West Indian Kieron Pollard will come in at No.5. The Pandya brothers, Hardik and Krunal will occupy the next two slots in the batting lineup.
The bowling attack will consist of pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah, Kiwi recruit Trent Boult, and spinner Rahul Chahar. The final spot in the side will be taken by either Marco Jansen or Jayant Yadav.
Predicted XI: Rohit Sharma (c), Quinton de Kock (wk), Suryakumar Yadav, Ishan Kishan, Kieron Pollard, Krunal Pandya, Hardik Pandya, Jasprit Bumrah, Rahul Chahar, Trent Boult, Marco Jansen/Jayant Yadav
Bench: Anmolpreet Singh, Piyush Chawla, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Marco Jansen/Jayant Yadav, Dhawal Kulkarni, Chris Lynn, Adam Milne, Mohsin Khan, James Neesham, Aditya Tare, Anukul Roy, Arjun Tendulkar, Saurabh Tiwary, Yudhvir Singh
CSK vs MI Head-to-Head
Played – 33 | Chennai Super Kings – 13 | Mumbai Indians– 20 |N/R – 0
CSK vs MI Broadcast Details
Match Timings – 7:30 PM IST
TV – Star Sports Network
Live Streaming – Disney+Hotstar
from CricTracker https://ift.tt/2XGhB7X
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