Holders Chennai Super Kings take on visiting Punjab Kings at The Den on the first day of May in the ongoing season of the Indian Premier League.
The sides are placed in the opposite sides of the points table with Chennai standing third with 10 points in nine fixtures, while Punjab, who have also played nine games, are positioned eighth in the ten-team tournament with six points under their belt.
CSK returned to winning ways with a statement performance against Sunrisers Hyderabad to climb to third in the table with skipper Ruturaj Gaikwad continuing his incredible touch with the willow in hand. The defending champions have managed to win all but one of their games at home this season and look primed to carry on the winning momentum.
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Punjab will be brimming with confidence from a record win in their previous fixture against Kolkata Knight Riders, where they managed to chase down a mammoth target of 262 runs with 8 wickets and as many deliveries to spare thanks to an unbeaten ton from English opener Jonny Bairstow.
The side from Punjab started their campaign on a winning note against Delhi Capitals at their new Mullanpur home, before succumbing to back-to-back defeats to Royal Challengers Bengaluru and Lucknow Super Giants. They snapped up another win versus Gujarat Titans on the road to add a couple of points to their kitty.
READ MORE: ‘Very Much in the Mould of CSK’: Fleming Believes Gaikwad Has Taken Captaincy in Stride and Could Carry Torch With Aplomb
However, the Preity Zinta-owned side conceded four straight defeats before their remarkable performance against KKR, going down to SRH, Rajasthan Royals, Mumbai Indians and Gujarat Titans, all in excruciating fashion, but displayed their grit at Eden Gardens.
The tourists would like to win on the trot for the first time this season, but a win on the road against the mighty Chennai could prove a daunting task for any team.
CSK opened the tournament with consecutive triumphs against RCB and GT at home before conceding two fixtured on the road against DC and SRH.
The Den encouraged their local team to a triumph against touring KKR before CSK picked up their first away win of the year versus Mumbai Indians at the Wankhede. LSG did the home and away double over Chennai in subsequent matches before Gaikwad led from the front to take Chennai up the ladder with a solid performance against SRH in front of their adoring fans.
Sam Curran is expected to lead the Punjabi outfit in the game if designated captain Shikhar Dhawan continues to be sidelined, with a call on his fitness to be made on the day of the game. PBKS will rely on their openers Bairstow and Prabhsimran Singh to get them off to a positive start, as they did during their win at Kolkata, and have IPL 2024 revelations Shashank Singh and Ashutosh Sharma to put the finishing touches at the end of the innings.
READ MORE: Time and Trial: CSK Batting Coach Mike Hussey Upbeat About Daryl Mitchell’s Acclimatization After Fifty Against SRH
CSK’s Kiwi recruit Daryl Mitchell seems to have found his feet with a brilliant fifty against SRH under crucial circumstances, while Shivam Dube has been an absolute behemoth in the middle order for the holders, which has earned him a deserved call-up to the national side for the upcoming ICC T20 World Cup.
Chennai pacer Mustafizur Rahman will depart on international duty following the conclusion of the game and the seamer’s rippers could prove essential in destabilizing the Punjabi batting order in what looks likely to be his final game at the MAC this season.
The game is slated to get underway at 7:30 PM IST with the partisan yellow crowd expected to flock to the fabled premises much earlier despite the sweltering heat typical of the South Indian city during this time of the year.
What: CSK vs PBKS, Match No. 49, IPL 2024
When: May 1, 2024, 7:30 PM IST
Where: MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chepauk, Chennai
CSK Squad: Ruturaj Gaikwad (C), MS Dhoni, Rachin Ravindra, Ajinkya Rahane, Shivam Dube, Ravindra Jadeja, Matheesha Pathirana, Moeen Ali, Deepak Chahar, Mustafizur Rahman, Tushar Deshpande, Devon Conway, Shaik Rasheed, Mitchell Santner, Simarjeet Singh, Nishant Sindhu, Prashant Solanki, Sameer Rizvi, Avanish Rao Aravelly, Rajvardhan Hangargekar, Ajay Mandal, Mukesh Choudhary.
PBKS Squad: Shikhar Dhawan (C), Sam Curran, Prabhsimran Singh, Jitesh Sharma, Matthew Short, Sikandar Raza, Rishi Dhawan, Liam Livingstone, Atharva Taide, Arshdeep Singh, Nathan Ellis, Kagiso Rabada, Harpreet Brar, Rahul Chahar, Harpreet Bhatia, Vidwath Kaverappa, Shivam Singh, Harshal Patel, Chris Woakes, Ashutosh Sharma, Vishwanath Pratap Singh, Shashank Singh, Tanay Thyagarajan, Prince Choudhary, Rilee Rossouw.
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