Match 44 of IPL 2021 will see a clash of the top- and bottom- placed teams. Chennai Super Kings have 16 points, and a win will mathematically confirm their position in top four. However, they will want to finish in top two, and they are well set to do even that. Sunrisers Hyderabad, on the other hand, are last, with just four points till now, four behind anyone else. Another defeat will officially eliminate them from IPL 2021.
Sunrisers Hyderabad have battled many a problem. The position of David Warner, their best ever batter, is not clear, but in all probability Warner has played his last match for them, at least in this season. SRH also replaced Manish Pandey and Kedar Jadhav with Priyam Garg and Abhishek Sharma. When Abhishek remained unbeaten in an easy chase in the last match, Garg fell for a first-ball duck. Jason Roy’s inclusion has made their top order look stronger; Roy and Kane Williamson will hold the key for their batting success.
Their bowling has been inconsistent, and their fielding is not up to the mark. Easy catches went down in their last match. They brought Siddharth Kaul in place of Khaleel Ahmed, and Kaul bowled well to claim two wickets. He will be expected to show consistency in the match against CSK. Unfortunately, their best bowler Rashid Khan has his worst bowling average against CSK among all IPL franchises.
Chennai, on the other hand, have a settled unit. All their players are in some sort of form. Their options are so varied that they had to drop the in-form Dwayne Bravo to accommodate Sam Curran in the XI. Between them, Jadeja and Bravo have made up for M.S. Dhoni’s lack of form.
The mix of experience and youth has worked well for them, especially at the top of the order. Faf du Plessis and Ruturaj Gaikwad have developed one of the most successful opening pairs since the last season. Suresh Raina and Ambati Rayudu's their ability to play express pace remains a question. Considering the conditions, Moeen Ali has given them an advantage.
Jadeja has justified his price tag with both bat and ball. Deepak Chahar and Jos Hazlewood have developed a good opening combination. They benefit by Shardul Thakur’s knack of picking wickets at right time. Curran did not have a good match on return, but they are likely to give him another chance before reconsidering Bravo. They already have two spinners in Jadeja and Moeen but if they want to strengthen their spin attack in Sharjah. They can also consider bringing in Imran Tahir for this match.
Likely XIs
Sunrisers Hyderabad: Jason Roy, Wriddhiman Saha (wk), Kane Williamson (c), Priyam Garg, Abhishek Sharma, Abdul Samad, Jason Holder, Rashid Khan, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Sandeep Sharma, Siddharth Kaul.
Chennai Super Kings: Faf du Plessis, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Moeen Ali, Ambati Rayudu, Suresh Raina, Ravindra Jadeja, M.S. Dhoni (c & wk), Sam Curran, Shardul Thakur, Deepak Chahar, Jos Hazlewood.
Betway Fantasy Tips
- Roy showed looked in shape in his first match of the season for Sunrisers Hyderabad
- All-rounders like Jadeja, Moeen and Holder, all are in good form with both bat and ball
- Bhuvneshwar, Shardul, Deepak all are international players and should be good addition to fantasy team
Blitzpools Fantasy XI
Wriddhiman Saha; Jason Roy (vc), Ruturaj Gaikwad, Faf du Plessis (c), Kane Williamson; Jason Holder, Ravindra Jadeja; Deepak Chahar, Rashid Khan, Shardul Thakur, Bhuvneshwar Kumar
