IPL 2020: Match 1, Mumbai Indians vs Chennai Super Kings- CSK Predicted Playing XI

The 13th season of the much-awaited Indian Premier League is all up to see the light of the day from September 19. Pulling their socks up, two heavyweights of the league Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings are ready to set the stage on fire in the season opener tomorrow. As per BCCI’s rule for years now, defending champions and runners up of the previous season will walk next to each other in the very first match.

If the four-times champion Mumbai look robust enough to dominate the game, Dhoni’s men will come out with guns blazing to protect their reputation. The last year’s dramatic finale hasn’t gone good with CSK’s fans as the IPL trophy slipped from the hands of the Yellow Army just by one run. Going with the current flow, let’s look at the Predicted XI of CSK against MI in the season opener.

Here is the Predicted Playing XI for the Chennai Super Kings (CSK):

Openers (Shane Watson and Faf du Plessis)

The set duo of Watson and Du Plessis are probably expected to open the batting line-up for their team. While both of them have shown the decent form in previous years, it will be a thing to watch how will they take on their game on the soil of the UAE.  The finale of the IPL 2019 saw Watson in pure class and he fetched 398 runs throughout the last year’s season.

The great batsman and fielder Faf du Plessis has shown all the might to tackle spin bowling and therefore would be a great option to take the lead for his side. The batsman has fetched 396 runs in last year’s IPL at the strike rate of 123.36 and would try to replicate the same form in IPL 2020 too.

Middle-order (Ambati Rayudu, MS Dhoni (C), Kedar Jadhav)

Having been denied the chance to feature in the 2019 WC, Rayudu got furious to quit the game but came back to reasonable sense afterwards. The right-hander is skilled enough to maintain the team’s record decently while batting in the middle order. Having scored 282 runs for his team last season, Rayudu is expected to put up a good show in IPL 2020.

Leading the team since day one, no-one can play roles better than MS Dhoni himself. While keeping the wickets and guiding the team, Dhoni was a stunner with willow too. Having scored the highest runs, 416 for the team in 2019 IPL, the man looks strong enough to balance the team in the middle portions.

To play some balanced knocks down the order, MS Dhoni and company can trust the skills of Kedhar Jadhav. Though he got a single match in IPL 2018, he became a feature of the team on 14 occasions in IPL 2019.

All-rounders (DJ Bravo and Ravindra Jadeja)

Caribbean star Bravo and Jadeja have been the regular part of the team for a long. A batsman, spinner, and excellent fielder, Jadeja is known for handling all the departments for his franchise as and when required.

With reasonable performance with both bat and ball and on the field, of course, Jadeja is most likely to land in CSK’s Playing XI.

Bravo has come to the team’s rescue often with some of his power hittings and can play his role well in the same manner in 2020 IPL too. Though he scored only 80 runs in the IPL 2019, he scalped 11 wickets for his team’s balance.

Bowlers (Piyush Chawla, Deepak Chahar, Imran Tahir, Shardul Thakur)

Having plied trade for Kolkata Knight Riders for quite some time, Chawla has been roped in by CSK for this year’s IPL. Having scalped 10 wickets in IPL 2019, he might land up and work well for CSK’s bowling team in IPL 2020.

On the other hand, Chahar has always been Dhoni’s go-to man for some early success in the game. Having scalped 22 wickets in last year’s IPL, the young man is highly expected to be part of CSK’s playing XI. His COVID-19 infection was a matter of concern for the team but the pacer has found back the rhythm well.

Talking of spinner friendly pitches of UAE, Imran Tahir will be the leader of spin attack for the Yellow Army. Having clinched the purple cap last season, there can be no better name than him to be included in playing XI squad of CSK for the season opener against MI.

 Shardul Thakur might be the man up for fillings CSK’s last slot for the bowler in the match against MI tomorrow. The man can be trusted with the ball for having experience in the league for two years with CSK now.