The Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 kickstarted with a blockbuster clash between Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and Gujarat Titans (GT) at the Narendra Modi International Stadium. It was a disappointing outing for the MS Dhoni-led side as they suffered a 5-wicket defeat to mark their first loss of the tournament. It’s fair to say that lacked with both bat and ball at some stage and they failed to capitalise on the momentum, which led to their downfall.
Asked to bat first, it was a collective effort from their end as Ruturaj Gaikwad played a stellar knock of 90 runs and kept CSK in the game. But he didn’t get the desired support as few batters played good cameos but couldn’t support him well. The total which at one moment seemed would go past 200 runs was then settled at 178 runs. Their bowling then wasn’t up to the mark as they leaked runs at crucial stages and also failed to keep the momentum when they were on top of the game.
Two changes that Chennai Super Kings (CSK) might make for their second game against Lucknow Super Giants (LSG)
However, it’s still baby steps in the tournament and they have a lot of games to rectify their mistakes and make a strong comeback. Their focus will now shift to the home game against Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) on Monday (3rd April) and it’s fair to say that they will try some different combinations in the next match. As their next match is just a few days away, let’s take a look at two changes that Chennai Super Kings (CSK) might make for their second game:
1.Dwaine Pretorius in place of Devon Conway
Chennai Super Kings lacked a quality and experienced pacer in the first game against Gujarat Titans. Their inexperienced bowling lineup was the main reason behind their loss in the first game. Therefore to get the combination right they might need to sacrifice the place of Devon Conway and bring in South African all-rounder Dwaine Pretorius, who is also a specialist death bowler. Also with Chepauk wicket offering turn and bounce, it might trouble the Kiwi batter, who traditionally isn’t a good player of spin. The addition of a lanky all-rounder could boost the team’s lineup.
Read Also: IPL 2023: Ranking All IPL 10 Teams Based on Their Potential set of All–rounders
2. Ajinkya Rahane in place of Shivam Dube
Another change that Chennai Super Kings can make for the second game against Lucknow Super Giants is they can bring Ajinkya Rahane in place of Shivam Dube, who looked clueless in the first game against Gujarat Titans. Also, Rahane being a great player of spin can come in handy for CSK on the chepauk pitch. The right-hander could provide stability to the batting order and if CSK replaces Conway, he can also open the batting for the team. The experience of Rahane could also allow Ruturaj Gaikwad to play even more freely and capitalise on the field restrictions of the first six overs.
Probable Chennai Super Kings Playing 11 for the second game against Lucknow Super Giants
Apart from these two changes, Chennai Super Kings is unlikely to make a change to their XI. Here’s the probable CSK playing XI for their second game against LSG:
Ajinkya Rahane
Ruturaj Gaikwad
Moeen Ali
Ben Stokes
Ambati Rayudu
Ravindra Jadeja
MS Dhoni (C) (wk)
Dwaine Pretorius
Mitchell Santner
Deepak Chahar
Rajvardhan Hangargekar
Here’s the Chennai Super Kings squad for the IPL 2023:
MS Dhoni (C), Ajinkya Rahane, Ben Stokes, Shaik Rasheed, Nishant Sindhu, Kyle Jamieson, Ajay Mandal, Bhagath Varma, Ambati Rayudu, Deepak Chahar, Devon Conway, Dwaine Pretorius, Maheesh Theekshana, Matheesha Pathirana, Mitchell Santner, Moeen Ali, Mukesh Choudhary, Prashant Solanki, Rajvardhan Hangargekar, Ravindra Jadeja, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Shivam Dube, Simarjeet Singh, Subhranshu Senapati, Tushar Deshpande
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