Two contrasting finishes in the IPL 2020 season for Delhi Capitals (DC) and Chennai Super Kings (CSK). In the last season, Delhi played their first final in the history of IPL while Chennai for the first time failed to qualify for the playoffs. Both these teams are now playing their first match of the 14th edition on Saturday (Apr 10) at Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. The play is scheduled to start at 07:30 pm IST.
Chennai Super Kings:
CSK team were struck by a COVID wave at the start of the last season and that increased problems for them. Suresh Raina and Harbhajan Singh opted out of the season owing to personal reasons and that did not help their cause as well. In all those dark times, Ruturaj Gaikwad starred with the bat with three consecutive half-centuries in the last 3 games and he will be their trump card in this match as well. The return of Raina only bolstered their line-up for this season.
Gaikwad and Faf du Plessis might open the innings with Chinna Thala Suresh Raina and Ambati Rayudu batting in the next two positions. Captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni followed by all-rounders Ravindra Jadeja, Dwayne Bravo, Sam Curran and Moeen Ali makes this CSK line-up very tough to beat. They have a decent bowling line-up as well lead by ever economical Deepak Chahar.
Probable XI: Ruturaj Gaikwad, Faf du Plessis, Suresh Raina, Ambati Rayudu, MS Dhoni, Ravindra Jadeja, Moeen Ali, Sam Curran, Shardul Thakur, Deepak Chahar, Imran Tahir
Delhi Capitals:
Delhi Capitals are going in with a new captain for this season – Rishabh Pant. The announcement had been made lately with Shreyas Iyer ruled out injuring himself during the recently concluded limited-overs series against England at home. This will be the first time Rishabh will be leading an IPL franchise and only time will tell if he is a good captain or not. Marcus Stoinis and Shimron Hetmyer had produced good contributions with the bat last year and Delhi would want them to perform this season as well if they are eyeing for another playoff finish.
With Shreyas Iyer, veterans Shikhar Dhawan and Ajinkya Rahane need to solidify their batting order with crucial contributions with the bat. Delhi’s premium bowlers Kagiso Rabada and Anrich Nortje are currently under mandatory quarantine having only recently returned from South Africa. On the other hand, Axar Patel who was recently tested positive for COVID-19 is expected to miss this game as he is under a mandatory 10-day isolation period. Delhi are set to go into this game with a depleted squad and that might help Chennai to register an early victory in this season.
Probable XI: Prithvi Shaw, Shikhar Dhawan, Ajinkya Rahane, Rishabh Pant, Marcus Stoinis, Shimron Hetmyer, Tom Curran, Ravichandran Ashwin, Amit Mishra, Ishant Sharma, Umesh Yadav
Match Prediction:
Considering the pros and cons of the squads available for both these teams in this match, it would be a cakewalk for CSK to comfortably defeat DC in this match. For otherwise to happen, Delhi needs to really punch above their weight!
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