Chennai Super Kings and Delhi Capitals might have already qualified for the playoffs of the Indian Premier League 2021 but their last two league games will still be as important as their first 12 encounters. The two sides currently sit at the top of the points table but can’t afford to breathe easy if they want to secure a top-two finish. Both Chennai and Delhi have 18 points and the only other team who could compete with them is Royal Challengers Bangalore (16 points). Chennai and Delhi have been astonishing this season and will battle for supremacy when they come face to face in Dubai on Monday (October 4). 

The year of Ruturaj Gaikwad

How do you stop this man? The 22-year-old opener started the season with scores of 5, 5 and 10 but MS Dhoni and Stephen Fleming kept backing him and Gaikwad has repaid their faith in grand fashion. The stylish right-hander from Maharashtra turned things around with scores of 64, 33, and 75 before the tournament was postponed because of Covid-19. Three months later, Gaikwad made his T20I debut in Sri Lanka but only managed 35 runs in two innings. But, his form in the second half of IPL 2021 has been phenomenal. In his last five innings, Gaikwad has smoked 312 runs at an average of 104 and a strike rate of 148.6.

Also read: Gaikwad and CSK – a match made in heaven

Gaikwad started the second leg with a knock of 88* against defending champions Mumbai Indians after they reduced Chennai to 24/4. He single-handedly propelled CSK past 150 and the Men in Yellow ended up winning the game by 20 runs. In the next three innings, he got 38, 40 and 45, ensuring that Chennai’s winning streak was alive and kicking. Chennai then played Rajasthan Royals on Saturday and Gaikwad ended up smashing his maiden T20 century. The young man hammered nine fours and five sixes in his 60-ball 101* to lead Chennai to a total of 189, but Rajasthan ended up winning the game with 15 deliveries to spare. 

Gaikwad completed his fifty off 43 balls but smacked 51 runs in the next 17 deliveries he faced. The stylish right-hander has been dominant against both pace (294 runs at 128.95) and spin (214 at 159.7) in IPL 2021. However, he has been ruthless against spinners, and that’s one of the reasons why Chennai have the best scoring rate in middle (8.6) and death overs (12.1) in this edition. Gaikwad has also found an able ally in Faf du Plessis and the two have constantly delivered for Chennai. Together, the duo has slammed 599 runs in 11 innings at an average of 54.5 and a strike rate of 136.1. Gaikwad and du Plessis have hands down been the best opening combination this season.

Jadeja continues to excel as a finisher

The Indian team management might be concerned about Hardik Pandya’s form but they would be delighted with the way Jadeja has performed as a finisher. Rishabh Pant, Hardik, and Jadeja are going to be the finishers for India in the upcoming T20 World Cup and it’s the latter who has looked head and shoulders above the rest of the Indian players in IPL 2021. The left-hander has operated at a strike rate of almost 200 in the death overs and has taken up the role of a finisher for Chennai in the last two editions. We all know what he did to Harshal Patel in the first half and then clobbered 22 off eight deliveries in a successful run chase against Kolkata Knight Riders on September 26.

With Gaikwad going berserk at one end against Rajasthan, Jadeja played his part too and hammered 32* off 15 deliveries. The 32-year-old was brutal in the last two overs and at one stage it looked like Gaikwad wouldn’t even get an opportunity to complete his century. There were also a couple of insane strikes, on one knee, off Mustafizur Rahman in the 20th over. This season, Jadeja has struck 64 runs in 19 deliveries, including three fours and seven sixes, in the 20th over and has constantly finished games for his franchise.

Chennai’s bowling is fragile without Bravo

The ploy of resting in-form seamers Dwayne Bravo and Deepak Chahar didn't quite work in Chennai's favour as Yashasvi Jaiswal and Co. made a mockery of the 190-run chase on Saturday. Thanks to Jaiswal and Evin Lewis, the Royals smoked 81 runs in the powerplay and all the Chennai bowlers, especially Sam Curran and Josh Hazlewood, were taken to the cleaners. Hazlewood has been pretty decent for Chennai in the second leg but they would be concerned about Curran, who was one of their best players in the first half. The 23-year-old allrounder from England has conceded 111 runs in eight overs in the two games he has played in the second leg. 

Dhoni has mostly used Chahar in the powerplay, while Bravo has bowled the majority of his overs in the second half of the innings. The 37-year-old Trinidadian has picked up 11 wickets in seven encounters this season and has conceded runs at only 6.6 despite bowling 14 of his 23 overs at the death. As a matter of fact, Bravo has the second-best economy rate (7.1) in the death overs this season (minimum 60 balls) and is now only seven wickets away from becoming the all-time leading wicket-taker in IPL history. Such has been his impact that Dhoni has been forced to leave out Curran to play Bravo. The two-paced surfaces in the UAE have surely helped but Bravo has been superb with his variations and yorkers.

Time to bring in Billings?

On paper, Delhi are arguably the most balanced and strongest side in IPL 2021. The likes of Shreyas Iyer, Shikhar Dhawan, Rishabh Pant and Shimron Hetmyer have all been amongst runs, but Prithvi Shaw is yet to hit the ground running in the UAE. The right-handed dasher had an outstanding run in the first half but has only managed 27 runs in three innings in the second half. The Capitals have also been playing Steve Smith on slow surfaces and the Australian batter has chipped in with a couple of 30s. However, Delhi already have batters like Dhawan and Iyer who can do the exact same thing, so why not try out someone like Sam Billings?

After Smith was knocked over for just 9 against Mumbai Indians, it was Iyer who crafted a run-a-ball 33* to get Delhi over the line. Delhi (7.6) have the fourth-worst balls per boundary in the middle overs and that’s where they could use someone like Billings who is naturally an aggressive batter. If fit, Delhi could also replace Smith with allrounder Marcus Stoinis (hamstring). 

However, Delhi’s bowling looks quite sorted for now. They would surely love to have Stoinis back but Anrich Nortje, Axar Patel, Avesh Khan, Kagiso Rabada, and R Ashwin have been doing the job for their team. Rabada has been expensive (economy - 8.58) but the trio of Nortje, Avesh, and Axar have been super impressive. Nortje didn’t feature in the first half of the tournament but has been solid in the second leg. The tearaway paceman from South Africa has taken six wickets in four innings at an economy of just 4.46. And, amongst bowlers who have bowled at least 20 overs in the middle phase (7-15) of the innings in IPL 2021, Axar has the best average - 17.1. Axar also has the joint-best balls per boundary in middle overs in IPL 2021 - 18.

There are only two bowlers who have picked up more than 20 wickets this season and both of them are yet to make their international debut. Harshal Patel has taken 26 wickets but has also leaked runs at an economy of 8.6. However, Avesh has been much more impactful (21 wickets at an economy of 7). The 24-year-old has already taken the most number of wickets by an Indian in a season in the history of the Delhi franchise. The onus will now once again be on them to stop Chennai’s formidable batting line-up.

Probable XIs

Delhi: Prithvi Shaw, Shikhar Dhawan, Shreyas Iyer, Steve Smith/Sam Billings, Rishabh Pant (c & wk), Shimron Hetmyer, Axar Patel, Ravichandran Ashwin, Kagiso Rabada, Avesh Khan, Anrich Nortje.

Chennai: Ruturaj Gaikwad, Faf du Plessis, Moeen Ali, Suresh Raina, Ambati Rayudu, MS Dhoni (c & wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Dwayne Bravo, Shardul Thakur, KM Asif/Deepak Chahar, Josh Hazlewood.

(*All stats till October 2, 2021)