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Chennai Super Kings (CSK), one of the most successful franchises in the history of the Indian Premier League (IPL), has endured a difficult start to the new season. With just one win in three games, the MS Dhoni-led CSK find themselves at the bottom of the points table ahead of their clash against Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH).
Though CSK leads SRH 9-3 in the head-to-head battle, the 2016 champions will come into the contest with momentum on their side after beating Delhi Capitals (DC) comprehensively earlier this week.
The wicket in Dubai on Wednesday showed first signs of turn especially when the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) spinners bowled in the second innings. This should be encouraging for CSK’s Piyush Chawla and Ravindra Jadeja, who have been lacklustre so far.
No Shane Watson and Murali Vijay in Styris’ XI
Meanwhile, former New Zealand cricketer Scott Styris has picked the playing eleven that CSK should field in their upcoming match against SRH on Friday (October 2).
Styris has named Faf du Plessis and Ruturaj Gaikwad as their openers. It meant that he wanted CSK to drop Shane Watson, Murali Vijay and change their opening combination. At number three, the cricketer-turned-expert picked Ambati Rayudu, who missed the last two games due to injury, and is now available for selection.
Kedar Jadhav and Ravindra Jadeja are Styris’ choice for the number four and five positions, followed by captain Dhoni. In the first three games, all three of them batted lower down the order but couldn’t make much of an impact.
Styris picked England’s Sam Curran as the only overseas all-rounder. He didn’t include Dwayne Bravo, who has been deemed fit to play in the upcoming matches. Styris is, however, in a dilemma of whether or not to drop leg-spinner Chawla from the playing eleven for seam bowler Shardul Thakur.
Deepak Chahar and Josh Hazlewood, who failed to pick up a wicket in their last game against DC, will play the upcoming contest, as per Styris.
The former CSK star also wants South African veteran Imran Tahir to be a part of the playing eleven. Tahir has been a key member of CSK since 2018. But he hasn’t played a match in the 2020 edition of IPL, raising quite a few eyebrows, if not a whole lot.
Here is Scott Styris’ CSK XI:
Faf du Plessis, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Ambati Rayudu, Kedar Jadhav, Ravindra Jadeja, MS Dhoni (c & wk), Sam Curran, Deepak Chahar, Shardul Thakur/Piyush Chawla, Josh Hazlewood, Imran Tahir
