Chennai Super Kings hit by major injury blows before their season opener, with MS Dhoni and Dewald Bravis unavailable their batting order which was supposed to have a wonderful season suddenly looks disbalanced and on the other hand, how will the pink army cope with the absence of Sam Curran it will be another important aspect to follow. It will be a real test for the new full-time captain of the Rajasthan Royals Riyan Parag. Many sources have confirmed the availability of the Aussie all-rounder Matthew Short, who can replace the South African youth star for CSK. In place of Sam Curran, RR has already brought in Dasun Shanaka, but whether he will make it into the squad directly will be important to watch.
Chances for CSK
With the unavailability of CSK main man and middle order floater, the yellow army have to rely heavily on the new faces, previously CSK captain Ruturaj Gaikwad confirmed on captains day that Sanju and he will open for CSK now as they will take the field, with lack of experience in the middle order Rutu can come down the order, and Urvil Patel can fill the void of Bravis at number four, and Matthew Short can come in as finisher in place of Dhoni.
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They can also give debut to the West Indies left-hand spinner Akeal Hosein to add more experience down the order. CSK will have to gather all pieces to solve the puzzle, finding the right combination will be the main challenge for them and it is also one area that can lead CSK to win.
Chances for RR
Rajasthan Royals will come into the field with a complete revamp in their leadership group, Riyan Parag will take forward their legacy while Ravindra Jadeja is making his comeback to the Rajasthan Royals.
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Sam Curran’s unavailability can hurt them a bit but on paper, they are looking like a more complete team as of now than the Super Kings. They have just one or two areas to think about.
Pitch and weather report
The match is going to be played in Guwahati and as per ESPNcricinfo, a fresh pitch is going to be used and it is under cover due to rain possibilities on the eve of the match. Undercover pitches have moisture and it can help the spinners and cutters.
Possible XIs
Chennai Super Kings-
Ruturaj Gaikwad(C), Sanju Samson(WK), Ayush Mhatre, Urvil Patel, Shivam Dube, Matthew Short, Kartik Sharma/Jamie Overton, Akeal Hossein/Prashant Veer, Noor Ahmed, Matt Henry, Khaleel Ahmed.
Impact sub- Ramakrishna Ghosh/ Anshul Kamboj
Rajasthan Royals-
Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Yashashvi Jaiswal, Riyan Parag(C), Shimron Hetmyer, Dhruv Jurel(WK), Shubham Dubey, Ravindra Jadeja, Jofra Archer, Nandre Burger, Tushar Deshpande, Ravi Bishnoi.
Impact Sub- Donavan Ferreira/Dasun Shanaka
