IPL 2018: CSK’s probable playing XI against SRH at Mumbai

We bring to you CSK’s probable playing XI against SRH at Mumbai which will be played on Tuesday and is the 1^st playoff match of IPL 2018.

The playoffs being done and dusted, the caravan now moves to the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai for the all-important Qualifier 1. Both teams would like to clinch the game and move straight away to the Finals.

However, the team losing the battle would have the opportunity to try his luck one more time in the Qualifier 2 which would be played between the losing team of the Qualifier 1 and the winning team of the Eliminator.

In this case, the team that loses today will have to face either of Kolkata Knight Riders or Rajasthan Royals, depending upon which team wins in the Eliminator. However, no team would want to take the long and risky way. Rather, they would try to secure a spot for themselves in this match itself.

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OPENERS

Ambati Rayudu

Ambati Rayudu has been the highest scoring CSK batsman this season. Although he departed early on a seaming MCA pitch at Pune, he is still CSK’s best bet at the top of the order. Moreover, Rayudu would try his best to regain the top spot in the batting charts in this match.

Shane Watson

Shane Watson has become a consistent feature of the CSK team. When the league began, many thought that the Aussie would be dropped after a few games but Watson has kept improving as the season has gone on. He is also one of the 4 players to notch up an IPL century this year.

MIDDLE ORDER

Suresh Raina

Suresh Raina just slammed his 4^th fifty of IPL 2018 in the last match against KXIP. With this, he has maintained his record of going past 350+ runs in every season and has lived up to the tag of being a consistent batsman.

MS Dhoni

In the last match against KXIP, MSD did what he does best. He hooked a bouncer from Mohit Sharma for a six to win the match and seal CSK’s 2^nd spot in the points table. Dhoni also took some interesting decisions by promoting Harbhajan Singh and Deepak Chahar up the batting order which ultimately paid off.

Faf du Plessis/ Sam Billings

Faf du Plessis was included in the team in place of Shane Watson in the last match so that he can be given some game time. This shows that du Plessis is still in MS Dhoni’s scheme of things. With Billings getting a first ball duck in the last match and also failing in the previous matches, du Plessi may be given the nod ahead of the English batsman.

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ALL-ROUNDERS

Ravindra Jadeja

Ravindra Jadeja has gradually picked up as the tournament has gone forward. He was widely criticized for his ordinary performances in the beginning but bagged the man of the match against RCB. Jadeja can be very lethal if the pitch has anything to offer for the spinners.

Dwayne Bravo

Dwayne Bravo is a very talented but underutilized player in the CSK set up. In the last match against KXIP, the way he bowled David Miller with a yorker showed that he can still be mighty effective at the death. Bravo is a handy batsman as well and can tonk the ball in the slog overs.

SPINNER

Harbhajan Singh

In the last match, Harbhajan was promoted in the batting order and he showed with a couple of sixes that he is no mug with the bat. Bhajji has been good for CSK till now. This is the reason that he has become CSK’s first choice spinner. He may not have picked a lot of wickets but has contained the opposition batsmen well.

PACERS

Deepak Chahar

When the ball is swinging, Deepak Chahr becomes a bowler of the league of Bhuvneshwar Kumar. He possesses quite decent pace and can jag the ball around both ways. The he way he squared Aaron Finch up in the last match is a testament to his potential.

Shardul Thakur

Shardul Thakur is a good bowler, all in all. He has pace and has variations like the knuckle ball and the slow bouncer. If he controls the way he leaks runs at the death, he can prove to be a really good option for CSK.

Lungi Ngidi

Lungi Ngidi ended at the Man of the Match in the last game with dream figures of 4-10-4. Dhoni has entrusted a lot of faith in the South African bowler and he has gradually become Chennai’s pacer.