Why DJ Bravo not playing today: Defending champions Chennai Super Kings have made a couple of changes to their Playing XI for this match.
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During the 46th match of the ongoing 15th season of the Indian Premier League between Sunrisers Hyderabad and Chennai Super Kings in Pune, Sunrisers Hyderabad captain Kane Williamson has won the toss and chose to bowl.
“We are going to bowl first. For us, we have done it something well, we’ll try to make use of the conditions with the ball. It was a close game [vs Gujarat Titans], today is another opportunity as a team,” Williamson told Star Sports at the toss.
In spite of losing their last match at the Wankhede Stadium on Friday, Sunrisers have looked at prevailing with the same Playing XI which had won them five matches in a row.
Why is DJ Bravo not playing vs SRH today?
Returning to captaincy after a sudden mid-season change, Chennai Super Kings captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni laid emphasis on a better fielding performance in a season where their chances of qualifying for the playoffs remain very little.
“You need to realise the current situation. We have dropped catches, those are the things you want to omit. Those are the areas you need to work on,” Dhoni told Star Sports at the toss.
Unlike Hyderabad, Chennai have made a couple of changes to their Playing XI. Batter Devon Conway and debutant pacer Simarjeet Singh have replaced all-rounders Shivam Dube and Dwayne Bravo in the XI.
Readers must note that Dhoni wasn’t asked about the rationale behind making these changes. Habitual of managing Bravo’s workload, CSK might have thought of doing the same in case of a slight niggle to the 38-year old player. Having picked 14 wickets in eight matches at an average of 18.50, an economy rate of 8.73 and a strike rate of 12.7, Bravo is Super Kings’ highest wicket-taker this season.
Simarjeet, who represents Delhi in domestic cricket, will be making his IPL debut tonight. Readers must note that Simarjeet had made headlines after he was among the five net bowlers who had traveled alongside the senior Indian team to their tour of Sri Lanka last year.
Having replaced Arjun Tendulkar at Mumbai Indians during IPL 2021 Phase 2, Simarjeet hadn’t got an opportunity to play any match for them.
During IPL 2022 mega auction held in Bengaluru earlier this year, Chennai bought the 24-year old player for his base price of INR 20 lakh. In 20 T20s, Simarjeet has picked 24 wickets at an average of 20.33, an economy rate of 7.45 and a strike rate of 16.3.
