CSK win toss, opt to bowl against RCB

BENGALURU: Chennai Super Kings (CSK) skipper MS Dhoni won the toss and elected to bowl first against the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) in their Indian Premier League match at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru.

The Bangaluru-based franchise made one change in their line-up as they brought in right-arm seamer Lungi Ngidi in place of Josh Hazlewood.

Royal Challengers Bengaluru currently sit third in the points table with seven wins and three losses in 10 matches and a net run rate of 0.521. RCB scored a commanding victory over the Delhi Capitals (DC) on Sunday at the Arun Jaitley Stadium here.

On the other hand, five-time champions CSK are going through a tough phase in IPL 2025. They have been consistently been placed at the bottom, and their chances of qualifying are now almost over.

“We are looking to bowl first. We want to make the most of the last four games we have got. Try to look into next year and which indivdual will fit into what role. Yes we want to win games but getting the most of the four games is important. It seems tacky, must have been under covers for quite some time and other than that it is a venue where scoring runs is easy. It is a high-scoring venue and after the initial start it will be quite good to bat on. It is important to express but the batters need to play to their strengths, if you are bowler don’t think what if the execution is not right, make a plan and bowl with full confidence. (Powerplay plans) Let it be plans Ravi Bhai (laughs). Same team,” MS Dhoni said after winning the toss.

RCB captain Rajat Patidar said they would have fielded as well. “But the wicket will not change that much. We will try to put a good total on the board and keep them under pressure. Everyone is in a good frame of mind and doing their roles, as a captain I am very confident in my boys. Till now many players have performed for the team and that is a good sign. We have 4 games and we will try our best in all the games. Every game is important from now, we are not looking at qualification and we will try our best in all four games. One change – Ngidi comes in for Josh,” Patidar said.

Teams:

Royal Challengers Bengaluru (Playing XI): Jacob Bethell, Virat Kohli, Devdutt Padikkal, Rajat Patidar (c), Jitesh Sharma (wk), Tim David, Krunal Pandya, Romario Shepherd, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Lungi Ngidi, Yash Dayal.

Royal Challengers Bengaluru Impact Subs: Suyash Sharma, Liam Livingstone, Rasikh Dar Salam, Manoj Bhandage, Swapnil Singh

Chennai Super Kings (Playing XI): Shaik Rasheed, Ayush Mhatre, Sam Curran, Ravindra Jadeja, Dewald Brevis, Deepak Hooda, MS Dhoni (wk/c), Noor Ahmad, Khaleel Ahmed, Anshul Kamboj, Matheesha Pathirana.

Chennai Super Kings Impact Subs: Shivam Dube, Ravichandran Ashwin, Kamlesh Nagarkoti, Ramakrishna Ghosh, Jamie Overton. (ANI)