IPL 2021: Strongest Predicted Playing XIs of all teams

3. Chennai Super Kings

CSK will be looking to bounce back after their worst-ever campaign and they will go into the new season with a fairly similar squad. They are likely to open the innings with Faf du Plessis and Robin Uthappa, who they traded in during the off-season. Leaving out Ruturaj Gaikwad in favour of Uthappa might seem a bit unfair, but given the latter’s recent form in domestic cricket, it is something that they might end up doing.

Suresh Raina, who missed the last season will be back in action this year and will take up his usual No.3 position. Ambati Rayudu will come in at No.4 followed by a new signing, Moeen Ali at No.5. Ali will provide them with some firepower during the middle overs, and his job will be to ensure that the run-rate doesn’t fall during that period.

MS Dhoni, Ravindra Jadeja, and Sam Curran will slot in at 6, 7, and 8 respectively, and will be assigned with the responsibility of finishing. While it may seem like Jadeja and Curran are being underutilized in this batting order, it is the best they can do given how they have built the team.

Dwayne Bravo, Shardul Thakur, and Deepak Chahar will complete the playing XI and they have quality batting depth till No.11. They also have six proper bowling options along with Suresh Raina, who can also bowl if needed. They have a pretty good bowling attack during the powerplay and middle overs, but the last five overs might be an area of concern.

Predicted Playing XI: Robin Uthappa, Faf du Plessis, Suresh Raina, Ambati Rayudu, Moeen Ali, MS Dhoni (C and WK), Ravindra Jadeja, Sam Curran, Dwayne Bravo, Shardul Thakur, Deepak Chahar