CHENNAI: There was a time when south zone matches used to be electric affairs. The Tamil Nadu versus Hyderabad games used to be exciting with the likes of K Srikkanth and Co. locking horns with the likes of Mohammad Azharuddin and his colleagues.
The Chennai game on Friday against Hyderabad promises to be an electrifying one as both teams have some attacking batters in their ranks. CSK will carry the confidence of a creditable win that they had against RCB, while Hyderabad will look to recover from the loss at the hands of Mumbai Indians.
CSK will once again look up to Ruturaj Gaikwad and Devon Conway to give a good start and look for the likes of Shivam Dube and Moeen Ali to consolidate without compromising on the Run Rate.
CSK also have a lot of batting depth with their skipper MS Dhoni coming at No 8.
Spin in the offing
Most of the teams that have played at Chennai have used three spinners. Hyderabad already have two quality spinners in Washington Sundar and Mayank Markande. So keeping in tune with the surface, they may be tempted to include Adil Rashid or Akeal Hosein. “I am not 100 per cent sure what the combination would be like. We will have a look at the pitch and then decide the combination,” said Aiden Markram, captain of Hyderabad.
In contrast, CSK have lot of variety in their attack. Ravindra Jadeja, Moeen Ali and Maheesh Theeskahan are, you would think, automatic starters at home. So the question in the minds of fans is whether Hyderabad batters will measure up to CSK spinners.
Plus the visitors’ middle order has not clicked as a unit. “Hopefully yes (Our batters handle CSK spinners) . We have to appreciate that they (CSK) have really good spinners and the conditions are conducive for spinners,” said Markram. SRH will look for Harry Brook and Mayank Agarwal to exploit the powerplay.
CSK will, in all probability, target T Natarajan and Washington who are familiar with the conditions and wicket at Chepauk. Both were expensive by their standards against Mumbai in their previous game.
“Sometimes you can make as many plans as you want to but on the day, you have to react. We have a saying that conditions overwrite planning, we can make our plans but it’s important to react on the day,’’ said Simons.
With Ben Stokes having a fruitful net session, there could be changes in the CSK line-up. It will be interesting to see who gives way to him.