With IPL governing council slating that the IPL-2020 will be played from 29th March to 24th May. The Committee also mentioned that the first match will be played between last year’s finalists defending champions Mumbai Indians against Chennai Super Kings. The venue will be the Wankhede Stadium. The CSK-MI rivalry had so far been the best of IPL and to start with CSK versus MI, it will be an iceing on the cake for all the cricket fans. So now here we will discuss about the the predicted playing XI for the Chennai Super Kings and that will also mark the comeback of the big man MS Dhoni.
Openers
1)- Shane Watson
Although retired from International Cricket, Watson is still active in franchise cricket and had been selectively playing few leagues likely IPL, BBL and PSL. Watto has been used as an opener mostly in career inspite of his all-round abilities because of his power hitting in the powerplay overs and elegance to play the new ball with clean strike. It seems unlikely that he will bowl in the tournament as the former Australian had cut down his bowling in order to prolong his franchise Cricket career.
2)- Faf Du Plessis
Former South African captian Faf Du Plessis have been struggling to find a form since last one year and has been left out of South Africa’s limited overs setup after being removed from the captiancy. Faf will be eager to prove his worth in T20 format in order to make a comeback into South Africa’s T20I squad as the the T20 World Cup will be later played this year. He can provide the anchor sheet role to CSK as well in crunch situations and also can be a power hitter if the situation allows. Faf without no doubt is the first choice opener in any T20 squad of the World.
3)- Suresh Raina
Since the evolution of IPL, Raina has occupied the No. 3 position for his franchise and has always been tje match winner. Raina is called Mr. IPL as he has the record of scoring more that 300 Runs atleast in all the seasons that had been there till now. This IPL presents the last oppertunity for Raina to make a comeback into the India Team for the T20I World Cup and he have to prove his worth with both Bat and Ball. Apart from that hus fielding abilities have never been a cause of concern
4)- Ambati Rayydu
Exactly one year ago Rayydu was the prime contender to grab the No. 4 spot in the ODI team for the World Cup 2019, but all of loss of form in IPL costed him the No. 4 spot and later taunted then selector MSK Prasad with a 3-D tweet in response to his exclusion from the squad. Later he announced retirement from all the forms of cricket before taking a U-Turn just ahead of the season. Rayydu later alleged about the corruption in Hyderabad Cricket Association. Well it has been a full roller-coaster ride for him. With the upcoming IPL seasons comes the last oppertunity for Rayddu to make a comeback to the national team which for now looks highly unlikely. Apart from this if Rayydu aspires to play the next season he needs to score bulk of runs to keep his IPL career going on. Rayydu is expected to play at No. 4 in the starting matches.
5)- Mahendra Singh Dhoni (c) & (wk)
This match will finally mark the comeback of legend Mahendra Singh Dhoni. The much-awaited comeback since he last walked out of the park against the New Zealand in 2019 World Cup final. Every fan still remember that heart-breaking run out that was indeed the worst affair of 2019. Mahi will dawn the wicket-keeping gloves and will lead the side as well. He will continue playing his finisher role batting at No. 5. Dhoni’s performance will also decide his future in Indian team with the T20 World Cup just 4 months away after the finals Of IPL-2020. Also Shastri has hinted that this IPL will bd the last oppertunity for Dhoni to make a comeback. Hence this will be first time in IPL history that ‘Thaliava’ will be under immense pressure.
6)- Dwane Bravo
Dwane Bravo has been a household name in CSK camp now. Bravo has also make U-Turn from international retirement. With the twin T-20 World Cup within the gap of an year Bravo will be looking to make a bid to West Indies side for the T20 World Cup. Bravo needs some splendid performances. Talking about the last season Bravo hadn’t have the great of IPL with only 80 runs and 8 wickets and the economy rate was also above 9. With age not on his side Bravo needs some match-winning performances in order to retain the IPL contract new year.
7)- Ravindra Jadeja
From being the out of favor in limited-overs setup to the frontline spinner in all the three formats. This has been the Jaddu’s story since last 18 months. Not only with the ball but with batting and fielding. This IPL season is predicted to be his best season by us. And we feel he might emerge up as the leading Wicket-taker.
8)- Deepak Chahar
Deepak Chahar was no where in the radar two seasons ago. But since he has been bought by the CSK, under Dhoni, this swing bowler is the currently one of the best T20 bowlers in the country who also carries a lot of variations. Chahar had also debuted for India in both T20Is and ODIs and last year famously won India won the decoder against Bangladesh with the figures of 6-7 which included a hat-trick. Chahar is not mug with the bat as well. He has the ability to go for the kill in the slog overs. So with Chahar coming at No. 8, CSK has a long batting lineup.
9)- Shardul Thakur
Shardul Thakur is just a like-to-like bowler as Deepak Chahar. Like Chahar, Thakur also has variations and is also no mug with the bat. With Thakur coming at No. 9. The match is never over for CSK until its 9-down. Thakur is also coming afresh from a long season for India and playing at International level must have increased his confidence and skillset.
10)- R Sai Kishore
R Sai Kishore is the newest member in the CSK camp having bought by the franchise in this auction. Sai Kishore is a left-arm orthodox spin bowler who created a lot of buzz in the first two seasons of the TNPL. In the last seasons Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy Kishore was the chart topper with 18-wickets. As Sai Kishore has been playing for Tamil Nadu so the Chennai tracks will be tailor-made for him. It will be interesting to see how he performs at the big stage and with Dhoni guidance behind the stumps an add-on for him to explore.
11)- Imran Tahir
Imran Tahir was the last-season’s purple cap holder and will be looking to continue his purple patch in the IPL. Although the legend has retired from International Cricket but the Tahir magic is still ON as the leggie was the leading Wicket-taker in the Mzansi League in South Africa. With international retirement Tahir will be free from any international pressures and duties and that will provide him more to express. Tahir will be leading the spin-bowling attack in their first match against Mumbai Indians.
Well this was the CSK predicted playing XI, in the next part we will discuss about the predicted playing XI for Mumbai Indians.