Stuttering CSK look to make most of home stretch at fortress Chepauk
The defending champions play their next three games at home, but won't have it easy against an LSG side that has experience playing on slow, spinning surfaces
Hemant Brar
22-Apr-2024
Match details
Chennai Super Kings (P 7 W4 L3; 4th) vs Lucknow Super Giants (P 7 W4 L3; 5th;)
Chennai, 1930 IST (1400 GMT)
Chennai, 1930 IST (1400 GMT)
Big picture - CSK vs LSG, round two
A big reason for CSK's stellar record over the years has been their dominance at home. Continuing that trend, they have won all three home games so far in IPL 2024. However, they have had just one win in four away games, which makes it even more important for them to win at home.
Fortunately, starting Tuesday, they will get three successive games at Chepauk. If they can win all three, they will have one foot in the playoffs.
Their biggest challenge, arguably, will come in the first of those games against LSG. Chepauk can produce a slow, spinning surface when needed, like for the game against KKR, but LSG have experience of such pitches at their home ground in Lucknow. Moreover, LSG will carry the confidence of beating CSK as recently as Friday, in the previous game for both sides.
It will be interesting to see what type of pitch CSK prepare. Do they play to their strengths, or try to deny LSG what they are used to?
Form guide
Chennai Super Kings LWWLL (last five matches, most recent first)
Lucknow Super Giants WLLWW
Previous meeting
CSK posted 176 for 6 in Lucknow, thanks to a half-century from Ravindra Jadeja and another cameo from MS Dhoni. In response, KL Rahul scored a superb 82 off 53 to lead his side to an eight-wicket win.
Team news and impact player strategy
Chennai Super Kings
Ajinkya Rahane has recovered from the calf niggle and could move down the order after opening the innings in the previous two games. This could also mean that Shivam Dube once again plays as an Impact Player if CSK bowl first. If they bat first, Matheesha Pathirana could perform that role.
Probable XII 1 Rachin Ravindra, 2 Ruturaj Gaikwad (capt), 3 Ajinkya Rahane, 4 Shivam Dube, 5 Moeen Ali, 6 Ravindra Jadeja, 7 Sameer Rizvi, 8 MS Dhoni (wk), 9 Deepak Chahar, 10 Tushar Deshpande, 11 Mustafizur Rahman, 12 Matheesha Pathirana
Lucknow Super Giants
Mayank Yadav is still not fully fit but LSG could bring back Devdutt Padikkal. While he was out in the single digits in each of his five innings so far in IPL 2024, he has a good record against most CSK bowlers.
Padikkal and Mohsin Khan can be LSG's Impact Players, depending on whether they are bowling first or batting.
Probable XII 1 Quinton de Kock, 2 KL Rahul (capt, wk), 3 Devdutt Padikkal, 4 Nicholas Pooran, 5 Marcus Stoinis, 6 Deepak Hooda, 7 Ayush Badoni, 8 Krunal Pandya, 9 Matt Henry, 10 Ravi Bishnoi, 11 Mohsin Khan, 12 Yash Thakur
In the spotlight
In the absence of Devon Conway, Rachin Ravindra has been opening the innings for CSK. He gave them blazing starts in the first two games, but his form tapered off after that and in the next five innings, he scored only 50 runs at a strike rate of 108.69. CSK generally back their players, and Ravindra is likely to get a few more games, but in a tournament with unprecedented scoring rates, they may not be able to afford slow starts for too long.
KL Rahul has gone the other way around. He started slowly but has really picked up the pace in the last few games. In the first four games of the season, he scored at a strike rate of 125.49 in the powerplay. Since then, he has smashed it at 185.11 - something he has always been capable of. It's a great sign for LSG, not so for the other teams.
Stats that matter
- Rahul vs Deepak Chahar has been a one-sided contest. Rahul has smashed Chahar for 157 runs off 96 balls without getting out even once.
- Nicholas Pooran has done something similar against Mustafizur Rahman: 88 runs off 45 balls, one dismissal.
- Moeen Ali has scored 33 runs off 22 balls (strike rate 150.00) against Ravi Bishnoi but has got out to him three times.
- Krunal Pandya has been able to keep Jadeja (24 off 22, two dismissals) and Dhoni (17 off 24, no dismissal) quiet. Ruturaj Gaikwad, though, has smashed him for 22 off 12 without any dismissal.
- Dube has a strike rate of 157.14 against Bishnoi - 33 runs off 21 with one dismissal.
Pitch and conditions
In three games at Chepauk so far, three different types of totals have been posted by teams batting first: 173 for 6 by Royal Challengers Bengaluru (lost), 206 for 6 by CSK (won) and 137 for 9 by Kolkata Knight Riders (lost). While a lot depends on how the pitch plays on the given day, both CSK and LSG will aim for a total of around 200.
Quotes
"He [Mustafizur Rahman] has got that wonderful slower ball, which is hard to hit particularly here in Chennai. We will be sad when he goes [back to Bangladesh], but his country is calling. We want to keep him for as long as he can. We've been delighted with his output so far."
CSK batting coach Michael Hussey on Mustafizur Rahman
CSK batting coach Michael Hussey on Mustafizur Rahman
Hemant Brar is a sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo