Dharamshala: Defending champions Chennai Super Kings will look to put their house in order and get back to winning ways when they face excited but unpredictable Punjab Kings for the second consecutive time in the IPL here on Sunday. Just three days ago, PBKS thrashed CSK in their Was defeated by seven wickets in Chepauk. Two defeats in the last three matches at home have put Chennai in trouble. They are fifth on the table with 10 points and the five-time champions will hope that the change of venue will also bring a change in fortunes with only four games left to seal their place in the knockout stage
CSK’s failure to generate momentum in the middle overs against the spin duo of Harpreet Brar and Rahul Chahar saw them post a lowly total of 162-7. Their batting has become heavily dependent on captain Ruturaj Gaikwad and six-hitting machine Shivam Dubey and as soon as one of them fails, it puts pressure on the others who are not performing consistently well in saving the team. Where Gaikwad He maintained it by scoring his fifth 50-plus score of the season, while veteran batsman Ajinkya Rahane once again failed to take advantage of the start, while Ravindra Jadeja and Sameer Rizvi struggled against spin.
CSK are also troubled by health and fitness concerns of their fast bowlers, including Deepak Chahar, who strained his hamstring after bowling just two balls and is likely to miss the reverse clash against PBKS The absence of their frontline bowlers, Mathisha Pathirana (niggle) and Tushar Deshpande (flu) also did not help on the second day. Add to this the dew factor which took the spinners out of the equation and PBKS cruised home comfortably. While Richard Gleeson made his IPL debut in the last match, CSK could bring back Mukesh Chaudhary.
Also Reason – RCB won the toss and decided to bowl against GT. Punjab Kings, on the other hand, have seen a resurgence as they have registered back-to-back wins to rekindle their playoff hopes. En route to their win over CSK, Punjab thrashed defending champions Mumbai Indians for the fifth consecutive time. They became the second team to defeat the US and they will be hoping for their chance.
Punjab continues to be an unpredictable team as, although they recorded wins over Gujarat in Ahmedabad, Chennai in Chepauk and even chased the T20 record score against KKR, they have struggled at home against RR, SRH and Gujarat.
With back-to-back wins, PBKS climbed to seventh place with 8 points and will need to maintain the momentum to save their faint hopes.
Jonny Bairstow, who scored a century against KKR, will be their favorite player, while Riley Rossouw, Shashank Singh and Prabhsimran Singh will also have to put their hands up.
PBKS’s bowling department has experienced names like Kagiso Rabada, Harshal Patel, Arshdeep Singh and Sam Curran and they need to perform consistently.
Rabada was brilliant that day but others scored runs. If PBKS are to repeat their performance against CSK, the spinners – Harpreet Brar and Rahul Chahar – will have to perform well once again.
Interestingly, the first IPL match at the Dharamshala Stadium was held in 2010 between Chennai and Punjab. A lot of runs are scored at this venue and dew remains a factor, making it an attractive contest.
