Chennai Super Kings (CSK) would be hoping to start off with a win against Rajasthan Royals in their new home ground — the Maharashtra Cricket Association (MCA) Stadium in Pune on April 20. CSK were forced to move out of their original home venue in Chennai amid political unrest over the Cauvery water-sharing issue.
Both the teams, who have returned to the league after serving two year ban following the spot-fixing scandal, will face each other for the first time in the ongoing edition.
With two wins and two defeats, Rajasthan are placed fifth with four points, while the Mahendra Singh Dhoni-led Chennai also have an equal number of points after two wins from three matches. CSK ranks at the fourth position.
“That ground gave me the opportunity for where I am today” – Pune boy, @ImRTripathi on his Pune experience!
How much do you think he’ll score tonight?#CSKvRR #JazbaJeetKa #HallaBol #VIVOIPL
1/3 pic.twitter.com/3J1PzQ7NxW
— Rajasthan Royals (@rajasthanroyals) 20 April 2018
Before the start of the high-voltage clash, let’s have a look at some of the interesting stats.
- Chennai skipper MS Dhoni needs 22 more runs to surpass Sunrisers Hyderabad’s opening batsman Shikhar Dhawan’s overall run tally of 3691 runs in IPL. Dhoni is currently at No 9 with 3670 runs under his belt.
- CSK’s wicket-keeper MS Dhoni needs 6 more dismissals to surpass Kolkata Knight Riders’ Dinesh Karthik to be at No 1 on the most dismissals list by any wicket-keeper in IPL. Dhoni is currently at No 2 with 105 dismissals ( 75 catches and 30 stumpings), while Karthik is leading with 110 dismissals (82 catches and 28 stumpings).
- Head- to- head: Chennai and Rajasthan have faced each other 17 times in IPL. Chennai holds the upper hand as they have won – 11, while Rajasthan Royals have won 6 games.
- RR’s batsman Sanju Samson needs just 17 more runs to snatch orange cap from RCB’s skipper Virat Kohli who is till now the leading run scorer in IPL with 201 runs under his belt.
- CSK’s new recruit Shane Watson requires 4 more wickets to claim purple cap. Currently, Mayank Markande is leading the tally with 8 wickets.
- The Royals have lost four of their past six matches played away from home.
- Harbhajan Singh needs to pick three more wickets to surpass KKR’s spin bowler Piyush Chawla to become the third highest wicket-taker in the history of IPL. Chawala is at No 2 with 131 wickets.
- MS Dhoni needs to effect three more stumpings to surpass Robin Uthappa on the list of most IPL stumpings.
The match number 17 of the IPL 2018 season between CSK and RR will start at 8 PM IST, while the toss would be held at 7: 30 PM IST.
Champion @DJBravo47 is proud of the #WhistlePoduArmy for all the #Yellove support! #WhistlePodu __ pic.twitter.com/Evq3oupl3A
— Chennai Super Kings (@ChennaiIPL) 20 April 2018
Teams:
Rajasthan Royals: Heinrich Klassen, Benjamin Stokes, Jaydev Unadkat, Sanju Samson, Jofra Archer, Krishnappa Gowtham, Jos Buttler, Ajinkya Rahane (Captain), Darcy Short, Rahul Tripathi, Dhawal Kulkarni, Zahir Khan Pakteen, Ben Laughlin, Stuart Binny, Dushmantha Chameera, Anureet Singh, Aryaman Vikram Birla, Midhun S, Shreyas Gopal, Prashant Chopra, Jatin Saxena, Ankit Sharma, Mahipal Lomror.
Chennai Super Kings: Mahendra Singh Dhoni (Captain & WK), Suresh Raina, Ravindra Jadeja, Faf du Plessis, Harbhajan Singh, Dwayne Bravo, Shane Watson, Kedar Jadhav, Ambati Rayudu, Deepak Chahar, KM Asif, Kanishk Seth, Lungi Ngidi, Dhruv Shorey, Murali Vijay, Sam Billings, Mark Wood, Kshitiz Sharma, Monu Kumar, Chaitanya Bishnoi, Imran Tahir, Karn Sharma, Shardul Thakur, N Jagadeesan.
