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Big picture: Once were finalists
Chennai Super Kings and Kolkata Knight Riders have faced each other in two IPL finals and one Champions League T20 final. They are two of the only three sides with multiple IPL titles. Now they face each other, trying to get out of the bottom spot, in danger of being left behind by more dynamic teams. CSK have won one match in four, KKR have barely avoided losing all four thanks to rain when they faced Punjab Kings.
IPL teams are not defined by territory, they don’t have grass-root structures and pathways. IPL teams are built at the auction table, and these two sides have been found wanting there for a while now. KKR famously let go of Shreyas Iyer and ended up instead with Ajinkya Rahane as captain. CSK parted ways with Sameer Rizvi, who took away consecutive match awards this year.
The team that loses in Chennai will practically be playing must-win matches all tournament. Thanks to their acquisition of Sanju Samson, who has hit a purple patch starting with the T20 World Cup, CSK look the likelier team to stay in the tournament for longer. KKR, who haven’t yet been able to play their first-choice bowling, will want to record their first win of the tournament at the site of their first IPL final win.
Team news: Have CSK found their ideal combination?
With Dewald Brevis coming in for the last match, CSK might be near their ideal combination. MS Dhoni is nowhere near selection. Gurjapneet Singh has shown he is worth backing so don’t expect a change there.
Chennai Super Kings (probable) 1 Sanju Samson (wk), 2 Ruturaj Gaikwad (capt), 3 Ayush Mhatre, 4 Dewald Brevis, 5 Shivam Dube, 6 Sarfaraz Khan, 7 Jamie Overton, 8 Akeal Hosein, 9 Anshul Kamboj, 10 Noor Ahmad, 11 Khaleel Ahmed, 12 Gurjapneet Singh
KKR will hope Varun Chakravarthy is ready to play for them at his other home ground, Chepauk. Even though he is out of form, good news is that he has been training for the past few days but his left hand was taped on the eve of the match. KKR are likely to decide on him after the training. Matheesha Pathirana has received the NOC to join KKR but will not be available for this game.
Kolkata Knight Riders (probable): 1 Ajinkya Rahane (capt.), 2 Finn Allen, 3 Angkrish Raghuvanshi (wk), 4 Cameron Green, 5 Rinku Singh, 6 Rovman Powell, 7 Ramandeep Singh, 8 Sunil Narine, 9 Anukul Roy/Varun Chakravarthy, 10 Navdeep Saini, 11 Kartik Tyagi, 12 Vaibhav Arora
In the spotlight: Ruturaj Gaikwad and Ajinkya Rahane
Ruturaj Gaikwad is the captain, he is the anointed opener, but there are already murmurs around how much more effective Ayush Mhatre has been. It is unlikely CSK will be undermining their captain, but they will dearly love for Gaikwad to move up from the run-a-ball strike rate he has been going at.
Ajinkya Rahane is KKR’s second-highest run-getter this year, he has gone at 155, which is impressive for a KKR batter, but he is not even in the 13 quickest openers this season. He has had a feisty interview or two questioning the intent of his detractors, but he will have to live with these question marks in a format that is rapidly moving towards even higher strike rates.
Stats: Mhatre at Gaikwad’s heels
Pitch and conditions: One of the more evenly matched strips
Pitch no. 6 at Chepauk, on which this match will be played, has of late favoured teams batting first in night games. Of the last four IPL night matches on this particular surface, three have been won by the defending side. Still teams winning the toss have decided to chase. Excessive heat is building up in south India, and the conditions will test the players’ conditioning.
18 April: Sunrisers Hyderabad, Hyderabad
23 April: Mumbai Indians, Mumbai
26 April: Gujarat Titans, Chennai
17 April: Gujarat Titans, Ahmedabad
19 April: Rajasthan Royals, Kolkata
26 April: Lucknow Supergiants, Lucknow
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