MS Dhoni-led CSK have made only one change in the lineup for the encounter against SRH from their previous game, with Dwayne Bravo replacing Sam Curran.
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Chennai Super Kings (CSK) skipper MS Dhoni has opted to field after winning the toss in Match 44 of the ongoing 2021 edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) against SunRisers Hyderabad (SRH). The Chennai-based franchise are enjoying a great run in the UAE leg of IPL 2021, recording wins at regular intervals. CSK’s most recent triumph was registered against the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), with Ravindra Jadeja making his presence felt. Dhoni has largely stuck with the winning combination, making only one change from the lineup for the last game. Dwayne Bravo is back in the CSK setup in place of Sam Curran. SRH skipper Kane Williamson has gone in with an unchanged lineup, which means the absence of David Warner yet again.
Dhoni termed his decision to field as being influenced by the smaller dimensions on the ground, as well as the freshness of the wicket.
“We’ll bowl first because of the smaller dimensions and looks like a fresh wicket. When you keep playing here, it tends to slow down a bit. The fresh wicket will play fair, might slow down a bit as the match progresses, but it may not be as slow as the other wickets. In a tournament like this, it becomes difficult to come back. This year, all the boys have been brilliant. Whatever time we got at the practice sessions, we have made the most use of it. Lot of players were playing international cricket and people who were not playing made sure that they turn up early and do a bit of practice,” said the CSK skipper as quoted by Cricbuzz.
“Taking one game at a time really helps. If you take care of the game, that takes care of where your position is in the points table. We are not thinking about that (top-two finish), we just want to make sure that we execute our plans brilliantly and we keep learning from each and every game. We have one change, Bravo comes back in place of Sam,” added Dhoni.
Williamson expressed a desire to play good cricket and continue to improve.
“Looks like one of those surfaces, looks a little bit better than some of the other games. We are batting first, we have to try and make use of it, assess the conditions as quickly as possible. Important for us to get off to a good start and build a decent total to defend. We need to adjust everywhere you go. For us, it’s trying to build on that last performance, there were a lot of good things,” stated the New Zealand-based cricketer.
“We are going in with the same side which is exciting. More opportunity for guys as well, they are really looking forward to it. We want to play good cricket, we want to continue to improve. Four games left to do that and that’s our opportunity as a franchise. We want to keep out focus in front of us which is just small adjustments against different oppositions. We want to keep growing throughout,” he added.
Lineups:
Sunrisers Hyderabad (Playing XI): Jason Roy, Wriddhiman Saha(w), Kane Williamson(c), Priyam Garg, Abhishek Sharma, Abdul Samad, Jason Holder, Rashid Khan, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Siddarth Kaul, Sandeep Sharma.
Chennai Super Kings (Playing XI): Ruturaj Gaikwad, Faf du Plessis, Moeen Ali, Ambati Rayudu, Suresh Raina, MS Dhoni(w/c), Ravindra Jadeja, Dwayne Bravo, Shardul Thakur, Deepak Chahar, Josh Hazlewood.
