Punjab Kings escaped with a narrow win against Rajasthan Royals but Chennai Super Kings were thumped by Delhi Capitals in their opening game.
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The IPL 2021 will witness the campaign of two Kings who are at the opposite ends of the spectrum. KL Rahul and Deepak Hooda’s brilliance boosted Punjab Kings against Rajasthan Royals. The heartbreaks of IPL 2020, however, were threatened to be repeated. But, Punjab Kings held their nerve and conquered a ‘Royal’ pain. On the other hand, the other Kings had a total reversal of fortunes. Chennai Super Kings were outplayed by the audacity of Delhi Capitals, who are under a new leader. The pupil outclassed the master. Rishabh Pant showed MS Dhoni that plenty of work needs to be done.
Punjab Kings also have a score to settle with Chennai Super Kings. When they were on the brink of qualifying for the knockouts in IPL 2020, it was Chennai Super Kings that denied them the chance to enter the top four. Revenge would be high on KL Rahul’s mind. Dhoni, on the other hand, knows that the team has to shake the rust off as quickly as possible.
Both Chennai Super Kings and Punjab Kings have issues in their bowling line-up. The overseas bowlers in Punjab Kings, especially Riley Meredith and Jhye Richardson had a hard time all over the Wankhede stadium. Even Chennai Super Kings could not defend 189 as Shardul Thakur went for over 50 runs in 3.5 overs. The team that bowls the best will emerge as the winner of the contest in Wankhede.
Chennai Super Kings might want to get Imran Tahir in the mixture but with Dwayne Bravo contributing well with the ball, he might have to sit out. Faf du Plessis was not in good form and this might tempt Dhoni to push Moeen Ali to the top to partner Ruturaj Gaikwad. On the other hand, will Punjab Kings be tempted to make some changes and drop one of the Australian pace bowlers?
Punjab Kings: KL Rahul(w/c), Mayank Agarwal, Chris Gayle, Nicholas Pooran, Deepak Hooda, Shahrukh Khan, Jhye Richardson/Ravi Bishnoi, Murugan Ashwin, Riley Meredith/Moises Henriques, Mohammed Shami, Arshdeep Singh
Chennai Super Kings: Ruturaj Gaikwad, Faf du Plessis, Suresh Raina, Ambati Rayudu, MS Dhoni(w/c), Moeen Ali, Ravindra Jadeja, Sam Curran, Dwayne Bravo, Shardul Thakur/ K Gowtham, Deepak Chahar
The weather in Mumbai on April 16 will be slightly cloudy. The humidity will be 48 percent. The maximum will be 34 degrees and minimum will be 27 degrees.
Match No.8: Punjab Kings vs Chennai Super Kings
Venue: Wankhede stadium, Mumbai
Time: 7:30 PM IST
Punjab Kings have lost 14 and won nine encounters against Chennai Super Kings in 23 IPL encounters. In IPL 2020, Chennai Super Kings registered their second 10-wicket win in IPL. They also dumped them out of the knockout contention.
