Their batsmen are in top form but Chennai Super Kings would look to plug the bowling loopholes when they take on a struggling Royal Challengers Bangalore in a key IPL game between the southern rivals on Saturday.
The Virat-Kohli led RCB, who edged out Mumbai Indians by 14 runs in their last game, will be eager to avenge their five-wicket defeat at home against the Mahendra Singh Dhoni-led Super Kings, who too will be keen to swiftly get back into the winning mode after suffering two defeats in their last three games.
For the star-studded RCB, the clash is a must-win encounter if it has to stay alive in the tournament and qualify for the play-offs. While RCB are in the fifth spot, having won three of their eight matches, CSK are still in a comfortable position in second position with six wins from nine games. The yellow brigade seems to have settled down well in its adopted home and has lost only to the Mumbai Indians here after shifting base after their first game in Chennai.
But that comprehensive eight-wicket defeat against MI on April 28 followed by the six-wicket hammering by the Kolkata Knight Riders on Thursday has shown chinks in the CSK armour, especially in bowling.
Chennai bowlers had been generally impressive with Shardul Thakur at the top. But in their defeats against MI and even on Thursday, the bowling attack could not defend the scores put up by their batters and appears to be missing the services of injured Deepak Chahar. The pacers and the spinners led by veteran Harbhajan Singh need to play to potential to restrict a devastating RCB batting line-up, spearheaded by Kohli. RCB too have some batting woes to overcome with only Kohli performing consistently, amassing 449 runs in nine matches. South African batsman AB de Villiers has been declared fit for the clash, but will be rusty having missed two games due to fever. RCB, meanwhile, will miss the services of Quinton de Kock, who has taken time off to attend a wedding.
Time: 4pm
Venue: MCA Stadium, Pune
Head to head
Overall: Matches: 21, Chennai Super Kings won: 13, Royal Challengers Bangalore won: 7, No Result: 1
Quote
“We are really satisfied with the way we bowled in the last game (against Mumbai Indians). We got our combination right. Tim Southee was exceptional, Mohammed Siraj is improving, Umesh Yadav and (Yuzvendra) Chahal have done well. We have been constant with that group.”
— RCB coach Daniel Vettori
Stats and trivia
CSK have defeated RCB in the last five matches between the two teams.
This will be the first time that the two teams will clash in Pune.
724 - The number of runs Kohli has scored against CSK. It is more than any other player.
678 - The number of runs Dhoni has scored against RCB. It is more than any other player in the IPL.
Squads
Chennai Super Kings: MS Dhoni (C), Suresh Raina, Ravindra Jadeja, Faf du Plessis, Harbhajan Singh, Dwayne Bravo, Shane Watson, Ambati Rayudu, KM Asif, Kanishk Seth, Lungi Ngidi, Dhruv Shorey, Murali Vijay, Sam Billings, Mark Wood, Kshitiz Sharma, Monu Kumar, Chaitanya Bishnoi, Imran Tahir, Karn Sharma, Shardul Thakur, N Jagadeesan, David Willey.
Royal Challengers Bangalore: Virat Kohli (C), Quinton de Kock, Brendon McCullum, AB de Villiers, Sarfaraz Khan, Mandeep Singh, Chris Woakes, Washington Sundar, Umesh Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Colin de Grandhomme, Moeen Ali, Pawan Negi, Mohammed Siraj, Corey Anderson, Parthiv Patel, Tim Southee. Match starts at 4 PM.
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