CHENNAI: The seasoned opening duo of Sanju Samson and Ruturaj Gaikwad will be under immense pressure to perform as Chennai Super Kings extend search for their first win of the season against Delhi Capitals in the IPL here on Saturday.
With three losses at three different venues, CSK have begun the season on an uninspiring note. Whether in batting or bowling, significant improvement is needed if they are to compete with rival teams.
The absence of Dewald Brevis has also impacted the balance of the side. The explosive South African batter is expected to make a comeback from injury against Delhi Capitals.
However, there is no clarity over the return of M S Dhoni, who is yet to play this season due to a calf strain.
The opening combination of Samson and Gaikwad needs to come good before things go out of reach for CSK. Kartik Sharma too needs to step up in the middle while Prashant Veer has done well in the lower order.
The only batter who has shown consistency is Sarfaraz Khan who has a point to prove this season.
The CSK bowlers leaked 250 runs against RCB, a total that proved too steep for the batters. Barring Khaleel Ahmed, all the bowlers leaked 12 runs or more per over.
It will be the second game of the season at Chepauk.
PBKS had chased 210 comfortably against the hosts on April 3.
CSK take on Delhi Capitals who would be hurting from their one-run loss against Gujarat Titans in Delhi.
The Axar Patel-led side knows the importance of momentum in a highly-competitive tournament like the IPL and would be determined to compound CSK's woes with an all-round performance.
David Miller refusing the single on the penultimate ball to tie the game against Titans would remain a talking point for the rest of the season but that surely won't be discussed in the dressing room. It could, however, play on the mind of the South African who backed himself to finish the game for his team but fell agonisingly short.
Pacer Mukesh Kumar leaked 55 runs his four overs on Wednesday, forcing him to review his plans in the powerplay.
In Mitchell Starc's absence, Lungi Ngidi has done the job for the team by extending his frugal ways since the T20 World Cup.
KL Rahul got welcome runs with the bat after couple of failures, leaving only Nitish Rana in the top order to make an impact.
Squads:
CSK: Ruturaj Gaikwad (c), Dewald Brevis, MS Dhoni, Urvil Patel, Sanju Samson, Shivam Dube, Ayush Mhatre, Khaleel Ahmed, Nathan Ellis, Gurjapneet Singh, Noor Ahmad, Akeal Hosein, Prashant Veer, Sarfaraz Khan, Matt Henry, Rahul Chahar, Zakary Foulkes, Ramakrishna Ghosh, Mukesh Choudhary, Matthew Short, Aman Khan, Kartik Sharma, Jamie Overton, Shreyas Gopal, Anshul Kamboj
Delhi Capitals: Abhishek Porel, Karun Nair, KL Rahul, Nitish Rana, Sameer Rizvi, Tristan Stubbs, Axar Patel, Ashutosh Sharma, Dushmantha Chameera, Kuldeep Yadav, Mukesh Kumar, Vipraj Nigam, Mitchell Starc, Tripurana Vijay, David Miller, Ben Duckett, Auqib Nabi Dar, Pathum Nissanka, Lungi Ngidi, Prithvi Shaw, Kyle Jamieson, Ajay Jadav Mandal, Madhav Tiwari, T Natarajan, Sahil Parakh.
Match starts: 7.30 PM IST.