It is tempting to glaze over a little whenever anyone starts to talk about M. S Dhoni and how much longer he will sport the CSK yellow on the field. And Super Kings’ home games — against the familiar tableau of a sea of yellow, the chants of ‘Dhoni! Dhoni! Dhoni!’, and a sports goods store ‘Dhoni Sports’, across the street from the Chepauk Stadium on the Wallajah Road corner — only make it more desirable to watch ‘Thala’.
So once again, with a full-strength crowd lusting for the host’s victory, CSK will face Sunrisers Hyderabad in an IPL 2023 match at the M.A. Chidambaram Stadium on Friday.
CSK comes into this match on the back of a high-scoring game, including an IPL record-equalling 33 sixes, where it beat the Royal Challengers Bangalore by eight runs. Meanwhile, SRH lost to Mumbai Indians by 14 runs at home.
The Sunrisers have conceded more than 10 an over in the death overs this year, and their bowlers will be up against a CSK side with a scoring rate of 12 in the same phase. CSK has four left-handers in its top seven, which means PowerPlay specialist off-spinner Washington Sundar will be a key bowler for SRH.
If it is a turning pitch with low bounce, it could also pose a significant challenge for SRH sensation Harry Brook. The Englishman has a strike-rate north of 160 against pacers, but it dips drastically to a shade over 100 against spinners.
Meanwhile, Brook’s England teammate Ben Stokes batted and bowled in the CSK practice sessions. If available, it will be interesting to see whose place Stokes takes.
Ravindra Jadeja has had an underwhelming IPL with the bat, scoring 39 in four innings at 125.80. Dhoni, on the other hand, has 59 in four innings but at a strike rate of 210.71. There’s a case here for Dhoni batting ahead of Jadeja, especially towards the death overs.
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