Chennai Super Kings (CSK) skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni won the toss and opted to bat first in their last league clash against Rajasthan Royals (RR) at Brabourne Stadium, Mumbai. Dhoni made just one change to the side by bringing back Ambati Rayudu in place of Shivam Dube.
“You want to give batters enough time, given our combination. Just want them to express themselves. Only one change - Rayudu in for Shivam. He is someone who bowls at decent pace and gets good bounce but the important thing is to give them the time to develop. Want to groom players but also give them enough opportunity to develop. Just for the sake of giving time to players, we aren't playing a lopsided team, so it's a bit of both,” Dhoni said after winning the toss.
On the other hand, Sanju Samson made one change to his side as well. Samson replaced James Neesham with pinch-hitter Shimron Hetmyer for the CSK clash.
“We're comfortable doing both, but would have wanted to bat first. One change - Hetmyer comes in for Neesham, I can see him hitting a lot of balls in the nets, so that must be good for him. We've been playing some good cricket and want to finish off on a high,” Samson said.
While CSK have nothing to lose in their last league match, Royals will look to finish in top two and get two chances to qualify for the IPL 2022 final. They have a better net run rate (NRR) than Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) and a win will guarantee them the second spot on the table.
CSK Playing XI: Ruturaj Gaikwad, Devon Conway, Moeen Ali, Ambati Rayudu, N Jagadeesan, MS Dhoni(w/c), Mitchell Santner, Prashant Solanki, Simarjeet Singh, Matheesha Pathirana, Mukesh Choudhary
RR Playing XI: Yashasvi Jaiswal, Jos Buttler, Sanju Samson(w/c), Devdutt Padikkal, Shimron Hetmyer, Riyan Parag, Ravichandran Ashwin, Trent Boult, Prasidh Krishna, Yuzvendra Chahal, Obed McCoy