vyomkesh kishor: “Very surprising team selection and auction strategy from CSK- picking Chaudhary over Kamboj despite paying Good amount for the latter in auction and last match performance of the former”
7:11pm CSK have stuck to the same eleven that bowled first against the Delhi Capitals (surprise, surprise). Which means they need their top order to fire when they chase, and they need their new-ball bowlers to start much better in the powerplay. PBKS, on the other hand, do not have Shedge in their bat-first eleven, which opens the door for someone like Vyshak or Yash Thakur later in the game.
Arjun: “Mukesh has been expensive in not only this IPL also in previous seasons and considering Khaleel being another left arm seamer who is doing so good so far, Wouldn’t Anshul Kamboj be a very good option. He was so good in Ranji and domestic. Thoughts?” — Would not have minded Kamboj playing one bit, just for variation with the new ball. But CSK have a habit of backing players, and that has shone through in Mukesh keeping his place.
Krish: “As a CSK fan, this is what bothers me most. Even when things are not working out, they hardly change the template. Other team would have given out a go to few fresh faces but not CSK. Even if they go down, they go down with the same team and philosophy. This needs to change.” — The counter-argument to that, though, is that they are so successful because they stick to the same philosophy, irrespective of the results…
Punjab Kings XI: Prabhsimran Singh, Priyansh Arya, Shreyas Iyer (capt), Nehal Wadhera, Shashank Singh, Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis, Marco Jansen, Yuzvendra Chahal, Arshdeep Singh, Lockie Ferguson
PBKS bench: Suryansh Shedge, Yash Thakur, Parvin Dubey, Azmatullah Omarzai, Vijaykumar Vyshak
Chennai Super Kings XI: Rachin Ravindra, Devon Conway, Ruturaj Gaikwad (capt), Vijay Shankar, Ravindra Jadeja, MS Dhoni (wk), R Ashwin, Noor Ahmad, Mukesh Choudhary, Matheesha Pathirana, Khaleel Ahmed
CSK bench: Shivam Dube, Rahul Tripathi, Deepak Hooda, Anshul Kamboj, Jamie Overton
7pm It is time for the toss. Ian Bishop is out there in the middle and says it looks an absolute picture. Gaikwad and Shreyas are standing next to him. Shreyas launches the coin into the air. Tails is the call, but heads it is. Punjab Kings will bat first. Shreyas says they had a discussion about how great their batting line-up is and they want to make the best use of it. Not much dew last time out as well, and they want to back their strength. Adds that they delayed a few things rather than executing them at the right time. Important to back themselves, back their instincts. Same team for the Punjab Kings.
Gaikwad says he would have batted first too. Pretty dry wicket, he says, and with dew not a factor, they wanted to set a total. New conditions and they want to adapt as soon as possible. He reckons they have been bowling well but have also conceded big overs more than once in innings. Fielding is a department they want to improve in each and every game. Same team for CSK too. Batting at three gives the team a little more balance, he mentions, and their squad was planned according to that. They have been backing that, and he hopes the openers will come good tonight. That is something we have been lacking, he says when asked about his side’s intent. Just about going out there, enjoying themselves and playing good cricket.
Praveen: “There’s been talk of bringing Anshul Kamboj into the mix. While a bowling reshuffle might be tempting, it’s important to recognize that CSK’s real struggle has been with the bat. Don’t be surprised if the musical chairs start again, with Rahul Tripathi making his way back into the squad.” — Could be a possibility, although personally, I’d like to see them continuing with Ravindra, Gaikwad and Conway as their top three (although not in that particular order).
GlassHouse: “CSK have 1 less batter than they need. Jadeja coming at 6 , who should be playing at 7. Hopefully they play Vansh Bedi as a finisher at 6. Batting has been their issue and they need to strengthen it. They have enough 6th bowling options in Dube , Rachin and Shankar if needed” — That may be an idea, but CSK are not really known for making such dramatic changes.
Pitch Report: Different pitch from the other evening, which means there is a slight bias to one side – 62m to the right-hander’s leg side, 69m to the other, with a 74m hit straight down the ground when bowling from the South End. Michael Clarke reckons this surface looks identical to the other strip, where it was consistent all through, both for batting and bowling. Batters could play through the line when it was full, and the ball sat up when it was short (and not bowled with enough pace). Hitting the top of the stumps and a length will be crucial for the bowlers. Pretty standard, in terms of conditions, concludes Darren Ganga, and it will come down to strategy and execution.
6:45pm CSK have finished second-last in two IPL seasons – in 2020 and in 2022, and this season is threatening to go that way, with everything that could have gone wrong going wrong. PBKS, on the other hand, have an Indian core that is firing, and has young, uncapped batters who have been doing well. All that and much more in Shashank’s preview.
Kumar: “CSK has to bring in Kamboj and drop one of the spinners. They have one spinner too many.” — Think they can still play three spinners because of Jadeja’s all-round ability, plus the possibility of bonus runs from Ashwin lower down. But Kamboj could and probably should come into the team, maybe at Mukesh Choudhary’s expense. Kamboj, remember, was bought for INR 3.4 crore by CSK at the auction.
6:35pm While we build up to the toss, do hop over to the earlier game, which is right in the balance. LSG put 238 up at the Eden Gardens, but KKR, led by captain Ajinkya Rahane, are hunting them down.
6:30pm A lot can happen over a cup of coffee four hours of IPL cricket. On Saturday afternoon, the Punjab Kings were one of only two unbeaten teams, with solutions for every possible quandary. But the night changed fast, raising questions and serving a reminder of their dire home form – both of which could be amended and bent to their liking tonight, but remain unanswered at the moment.
Crisis and the Chennai Super Kings, meanwhile, have often not been mentioned in the same breath, let alone being used close together in conjunction. But this season, characterized by chopping and changing, crushing defeats at Chepauk, and the creaking of a canoe that has historically caressed over tumultuous IPL waters, has their fans dreading a calamitous campaign.
But life, they say, is not about how hard you can hit, rather about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward. And so, over to CSK to channel that spirit. To reignite that eye-of-the-tiger sparkle, to brazenly demonstrate that never-give-up mentality and to reiterate that this storied franchise – of champions, comebacks and clutch moments, and of resistance, resilience and renaissance, has yet another riveting rear-guard revival up its sleeve.
Hello and welcome to ESPNcricinfo’s live coverage. The CSK carriage, clunky and cumbrous so far, arrives at a new station, craving to show this campaign has not careened past them, even as the Punjab Kings, perennially ponderous on this patch, attempt bringing back the bravado and belligerence from their bullish beginning.
This promises to be a cracker, so jump on!