CHENNAI: Chennai Super Kings (CSK) captain MS Dhoni won the toss and opted to bat against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in their Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 match here at MA Chidambaram Stadium on Sunday.
CSK will aim for a win to strengthen their chances of sealing a playoff berth.
“We’ll bat first. We’ve been slightly uncertain about the wicket, and as the tournament has progressed the pitch gets slow. Throughout the years, we have told openers to assess the pitch quickly and find what’s a good score. After 6-8 overs we need to revisit our score because the ball loses its shine. I think we have done really well, but fielding is one department where we need to step up. Can improve by 5-10 per cent. Same XI for this game,” speaking at the time of toss, CSK captain MS Dhoni said.
“Would have liked to bat first as well. The deck looks sticky, so would have wanted to bat first and get our spinners in play. I think the pressure was there in the first game as well, it is there now as well. Such is the IPL, we can’t take it lightly. If any department falters, then 90 per cent of the result goes against you. So we need to be clinical in all departments. One change for us – Anukul Roy goes out, Vaibhav Arora comes in,” Kolkata Knight Riders captain Nitish Rana said.
Chennai Super Kings (Playing XI): Ruturaj Gaikwad, Devon Conway, Ajinkya Rahane, Ambati Rayudu, Shivam Dube, Moeen Ali, Ravindra Jadeja, MS Dhoni(w/c), Deepak Chahar, Tushar Deshpande and Maheesh Theekshana.
Kolkata Knight Riders (Playing XI): Rahmanullah Gurbaz(w), Jason Roy, Nitish Rana(c), Andre Russell, Rinku Singh, Shardul Thakur, Sunil Narine, Vaibhav Arora, Harshit Rana, Suyash Sharma and Varun Chakaravarthy. (ANI)