IPL: CSK seek to maintain momentum

Playing in front of home fans, Dhoni & Co face Rajasthan challenge

Chennai Super Kings bowler Ravindra Jadeja celebrates with teammates after the wicket of Mumbai Indians batter Ishan Kishan during the IPL 2023. (Photo | PTI)

CHENNAI: Buoyed with a convincing win against Mumbai Indians on Saturday, a confident looking Chennai Super Kings would like to carry forward the momentum when they meet Rajasthan Royals in the Indian Premier League here on Wednesday evening.

The hosts will once again look to the openers Ruturaj Gaikwad and Devon Conway to give a good start. Gaikwad, with scores of 92, 57 and 40 in the last three games, is in good form and he will be key if they are to put up a fighting total. Conway needs to measure up but Ajinkya Rahane coming good against Mumbai gives CSK good options at the top of the order.

Ravindra Jadeja during a practice session
ahead of Rajasthan clash | Ashwin Prasath

''Ruturaj is in awesome touch. Jinks (Rahane) splendid show against Mumbai will pose a selection dilemma for the CSK think tank against Rajasthan. But I feel Rahane was in good touch and thus CSK will go with the flow. The last few games in the IPL have been high-scoring ones. That is the trend now. So CSK must make maximum use of the powerplay and put runs on the board,'' said former India player and CSK bowling coach L Balaji.

The trend is to bat out the opposition. So captains and coaches have started to burn the midnight oil to draw strategies on how to contain the power hitters in the opponent's ranks. Rajasthan has powerful hitters in Jos Buttler, Sanju Samson, Yashasvi Jaiswal and Shimron Hetmyer.

CSK lead spinner Ravindra Jadeaja is not worried and insists that the surface will decide how he bowls. "See, it depends on where you are playing. In Chennai, the wicket favours spinners, I don't try too many different things, we can just stick to the basic line and length. And it depends what fields we are bowling to, things can keep changing during the game, but it depends where we are playing, whether we are playing in Bangalore, so we have to bowl according to the wicket, you know what wicket is offering on a particular day,'' he said.

''Nowadays, nothing is safe, because they are chasing 212. So nothing is safe, but yeah, you have to be disciplined, you need to be very smart," he insisted.While the hosts' spinners have delivered, the pacers have been a touch consistent and there are question marks over Deepak Chahar's fitness following the

injury he picked up in the last game.

''We don't know about Deepak, in case he is not available. Rajvardhan (Hangargekar) can chip in. Having said that, the CSK fast bowling group must tighten their game. If you see the last few games in the IPL, the batters have gone hammer and tongs against fast bowlers. So CSK bowlers must bowl better lengths and avoid extras. Plus as I said earlier batters are using the 'pace' of the ball to score runs. So CSK seamers should not give the width to Rajasthan batters to play their shots. They must vary the pace,'' Balaji added.

Rajasthan too will be brimming with confidence as they are here after a good win against Delhi. Their top-order is in form plus they have three spinners, the Ashwins, Ravichandran and Murugan, and Yuzvendra Chahal.

CSK spinners are difficult to play at home and Butler is aware of it. ''It's about playing with a high level of skill. You come up against good bowlers against every single team in the IPL, it's a game of skill, being smart, being adaptable, understanding the situation of the game and managing to play accordingly. We know generally Chennai operate with good spinners, spin plays a strong part in this ground, so the team who plays well will go a long way in the game,'' opined Butler.