CSK vs MI: Even though both Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings are sitting at the bottom of the points table and have given largely lacklustre performances so far, the El Clásico of the IPL remains the most hyped up contest and promises to be a crackerjack as both teams – who will clash on Thursday – although mathematically in the playoff race, stand on the verge of being eliminated from a top-four finish.
After losing their first four matches, Ravindra Jadeja’s team opened their account with a win over RCB but then went down to Gujarat Titans in a tight match.
Rohit Sharma’s five-time champions have lost all their six matches and are the only winless side in the IPL 2022. Most of their losses have been close ones as they failed to grab the key moments and finish off the games.
CSK vs MI Venue: DY Patil Stadium
The pitches now in Mumbai have started to show signs of wear and tear as the latest game at the DY Patil – between LSG and RCB – saw the ball grip and turn with the batting first team winning the match.
With MI and CSK, two teams whose batters have disappointed while their bowlers also have been ineffective in the death overs, expect a decent scoring game but also spinners to have a say.
Chennai Super Kings
Chris Jordan, who leaked 58 runs vs GT, is likely to make way for Dwaine Pretorius. Moeen Ali hasn’t been in touch with the bat this season and hasn’t been used much with the ball; the Englishman could be replaced by Devon Conway who was dropped after one failure.
CS vs MI: CSK predicted XI
Robin Uthappa, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Moeen Ali/Devon Conway, Ambati Rayudu, Shivam Dube, Ravindra Jadeja (c), MS Dhoni (wk), Dwayne Bravo, Dwaine Pretorius, Maheesh Theekshana, Mukesh Choudhary
Mumbai Indians
Changes are certain to be made in the Mumbai Indians’ eleven that lost to LSG. Tymal Mills and Fabian Allen, the pair which leaked 100 runs in 7 overs, is expected to be replaced by Riley Meredith or Basil Thampi and Tim David or Daniel Sams respectively.
Since MI are all but knocked out of the playoff race, they could give some game-time to the likes of Sanjay Yadav, Mayank Markande, Arshad Khan; fans are even speculating an IPL debut for Arjun Tendulkar!
CSK vs MI: MI predicted XI
Rohit Sharma (c), Ishan Kishan (wk), Dewald Brevis, Tilak Varma, Suryakumar Yadav, Kieron Pollard, Fabian Allen/Tim David/Daniel Sams, Jaydev Unadkat, Murugan Ashwin, Jasprit Bumrah, Riley Meredith/Basil Thampi
