Mahendra Singh Dhoni taking up the captaincy sceptre and leading them to a win in the last game came as a relief to the Chennai Super Kings. But they have no time to relax because their wretched run in the first half of IPL 2022 has left them with very little space for failure. One slip and their play-off chances may go up in smoke.
With that kind of desperation in the backdrop, Chennai will face Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in Pune on Wednesday. They must win, and given how shaky Faf du Plessis’ RCB have been in the last few games, Chennai can get their fourth win of the season if they plug a few holes.
The most prominent ‘hole’ in the Chennai set-up is their bowling. Lack of experience and wicket-taking skills in their bowlers has hurt Chennai. They even struggled to defend a 200-plus total in their last game.
Ravindra Jadeja, relieved of the captaincy burden, will be expected to work his tricks with the ball and guide the likes of Mukesh Choudhary and Maheesh Theekshana. Chennai missed Dwayne Bravo in the last game, there was no Moeen Ali too. There is no clarity on the two’s availability on Wednesday, but even if they are fit, it will be difficult for Dhoni to accommodate both in the playing XI.
RCB, on the other hand, will be hoping to cash in on Chennai’s weak bowling, but then will their batters rise to the opportunity?
RCB of course can find confidence in the fact that Virat Kohli was back among runs in their last game. It wasn’t a Kohli-esque knock, but still it was far better than golden ducks. If Du Plessis and Glenn Maxwell too can find runs, RCB, who are stuck in a mid-table chaos, can definitely hope for ascendancy on Wednesday.