Chennai, April 2 Chennai Super Kings will need to significantly improve in all aspects of the game to trouble a strong Punjab Kings in their first home game of the Indian Premier League here on Friday.
CSK's opening match against Rajasthan Royals was uninspiring.
CSK, now a team full of young players, did not perform well in Guwahati and simply want to put that comprehensive defeat behind them in a long tournament like the IPL.
Considering how the Chennai pitch played in the recent T20 World Cup, it should be a good batting pitch for the game on Friday.
While injured MS Dhoni did not travel to Guwahati, he could be back on the bench as a sounding board for captain Ruturaj Gaikwad while he recovers from a calf strain.
Sanju Samson, their biggest signing for the season, did not last long on his CSK debut and will be looking to make a big impact in front of home fans.
CSK did not have the services of their key batter Dewald Brevis against the Royals, and there is still no clarity on his recovery from a side strain.
Sarfaraz Khan was brought in as an impact player after the batting collapse. He did not last long but looked comfortable in the middle in his first IPL game since the 2023 season.
More is expected from young players like Kartik Sharma as the tournament progresses.
On the bowling front, players like Matt Henry and Noor Ahmad were unable to perform well due to the aggressive batting of Vaibhav Sooryavanshi. They will be eager to bounce back from this defeat.
CSK will face last year's finalists, Punjab Kings, who have become a formidable team under the leadership of Shreyas Iyer and Ricky Ponting.
As they aim to go all the way this season, they have found an able number three in Cooper Connolly, who anchored a tense chase against Gujarat Titans on Tuesday night.
The middle order faltered in what should have been a straightforward chase, and this will push the team to produce a more convincing performance with the bat.
Yuzvendra Chahal, who is returning to the IPL as a fitter cricketer, impressed with his variations of line and pace against the Titans, choking the flow of runs in the middle overs while dismissing two key batters.
Another consistent performer for the team, Harpreet Brar, was not part of the playing 11. Punjab Kings will need to find a way to get him into the eleven or use him as an impact player.
Vijaykumar Vyshak continued from where he left off last season, performing well for Punjab Kings in all phases of the innings.
Squads:
Punjab Kings: Shreyas Iyer (c), Priyansh Arya, Harnoor Singh, Mitchell Owen, Vishnu Vinod, Nehal Wadhera, Azmatullah Omarzai, Marco Jansen, Marcus Stoinis, Arshdeep Singh, Xavier Bartlett, Yuzvendra Chahal, Lockie Ferguson, Harpreet Brar, Vijaykumar Vyshak, Yash Thakur, Cooper Connolly, Ben Dwarshuis, Musheer Khan, Praveen Dubey, Vishal Nishad, Suryansh Shedge, Prabhsimran Singh, Pyla Avinash.
Chennai Super Kings: Ruturaj Gaikwad (c), Dewald Brevis, MS Dhoni, Urvil Patel, Sanju Samson, Shivam Dube, Ramakrishna Ghosh, Shreyas Gopal, Jamie Overton, Khaleel Ahmed, Anshul Kamboj, Gurjapneet Singh, Mukesh Choudhary, Noor Ahmad, Akeal Hosein, Prashant Veer, Matthew Short, Aman Khan, Matt Henry, Rahul Chahar, Zakary Foulkes, Spencer Johnson, Kartik Sharma, Sarfaraz Khan, Ayush Mhatre.
Match starts at 7:30 PM IST.
