Published: Sep 25, 2014, 12:09 PM (IST)
Edited: Sep 25, 2014, 12:09 PM (IST)
After registering an emphatic win over the South African side Dolphins, the Indian Premier League (IPL) side Chennai Super Kings (CSK) will aim to keep their winning run intact when they take on the team from Pakistan, the Lahore Lions in the 11th match of the ongoing Champions League T20 (CLT20) 2014 tournament. Devarchit Varma takes a look at the likely XI for the IPL side.
Chennai might have started off their campaign on a poor note by losing to the defending IPL champions Kolkata Knight Riders, but their impressive comeback in the clash against Dolphins shut their critics and the MS Dhoni-led side once again proved why it is considered to be one of the most dangerous sides in T20 cricket. Chennai would be hoping to carry on their good work and sealn another win in order to strengthen their claim for a spot in the semi-finals, given the fact that their next opponents Lahore Lions aren’t performing up to the potential and the big win would have give Chennai the necessary boost to get their act together. While teams generally stick with their playing elevens, there is no harm in boosting the firepower even more when there is an opportunity. Let’s take a look at what combination can Chennai Super Kings can come up with in clash with Lahore Lions:
Top-order: The Super Kings have one of the most dangerous top-order in the tournament. The likes of Brendon McCullum, explosive Dwayne Smith and Suresh Raina are not only capable of providing strong starts but they have the ability to rip apart the best of the bowling attacks in this format. The way McCullum and Raina went about their job in the last match against the Dolphins should be giving sleepless nights to Lahore Lions’ captain Mohammad Hafeez, as in the present form there seems to be no stopping CSK.
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Middle-order: What is the biggest factor that could help Chennai win this edition of the CLT20 is the form in which two of their batsmen are. Raina and Faf du Plessis are going all guns blazing, and the score that they put up in the last match – 242 against the Dolphins – showed what the Super Kings are capable of. Apart from these, there are Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Dwayne Bravo, Ravindra Jadeja and Ravichandran Ashwin, which indicates that Chennai Super Kings bat really deep and the opposition teams really need to put up a good show with the ball, otherwise given the form Chennai’s batsmen are in as well as their firepower, it will be very difficult to get the better of them.
Bowling: Ashish Nehra might have claimed two wickets in the last match but he was very expensive – giving away 42 runs in his four overs. While the Lahore Lions batsmen are expected to play spin well, Chennai captain Dhoni trusts the spinners more compared to the fast bowlers and he would be prompted to make only one change in his team which seems to be likely. Both Mohit Sharma and Ishwar Pandey were impressive with the ball in the match against Dolphins and Dhoni would be happy to get in another slow bowler who could support the spin attack of Jadeja and Ashwin.
Chennai Super Kings (CSK) likely XI for clash with Lahore Lions: Dwayne Smith, Brendon McCullum, Suresh Raina, Faf du Plessis, MS Dhoni (c&wk), Dwayne Bravo, Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Pawan Negi, Ishwar Pandey, Mohit Sharma.
Catch the complete coverage of Champions League T20 (CLT20) 2014 here
(Devarchit Varma is a reporter with CricketCountry. He can be followed on Twitter @Devarchit)
