Follow UsLast CSK match, when a certain Mahendra Singh Dhoni walked out to bat and scored 37* off 16 at a strike rate of 231.25, people forgot that it was Chennai Super Kings’ first loss in IPL 2024. Their chase succumbed to a classy bowling performance from the Delhi Capitals pacers, but Dhoni’s blitzkrieg was what fans remember.
If CSK’s batting had one apparent thing they weren’t sure about, Dhoni’s batting made that clear. Mighty Mahendra was still hitting them. It might have been a loss for CSK, but the euphoria generated by that innings made them look even stronger than before.
But that’s not the case. There are some obvious chinks in their armour (which we’ll come to in a bit), and Sunrisers Hyderabad would try to exploit them diligently - something which their bowling attack has failed to do on a regular basis as they have conceded 208/7, 246/5, and 168/3 in each of their bowling innings.
It hasn’t mattered that their batting attack is firing on all cylinders as it boasts of hitters like Travis Head, Abhishek Sharma, Heinrich Klaasen and Aiden Markram (more of a high strike rate anchor than a pure hitter).
They are still a very strong side on paper, and they would hope that after this game, their position on the points table reflects that, unlike their current middle-of-the-table position after three games.
SRH vs CSK Head-to-Head
Overall - Games 19 | SRH 5 | CSK 14
At Hyderabad - Games 4 | SRH 2 | CSK 2
Venue details and weather conditions
Since IPL 2023, teams batting first have won five out of eight games at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Uppal, Hyderabad. The average first innings score is 187, with the winning score being 197. This season, the pitch looks to be an absolute belter as SRH posted 277 against MI, who made 246 in return.
Weather conditions are expected to be quite dry and hot, with the temperature expected to be around 30 degrees during the game.
Everything points towards SRH and CSK being a high-scoring game, without any heavenly intervention.
Things to watch out for
Abhishek Sharma loves batting against CSK
Sharma has scored 199 runs at a strike rate of 141 and an average of 33.2 against CSK in his short career so far, which is his highest against any team. He has been especially belligerent against spinners since 2022 (strike rate of 167), so if given a chance, you can expect him to go hard against Ravindra Jadeja.
Meanwhile, CSK would again like to use their pacers and ask them to mix up their deliveries against Sharma. If they manage to get into SRH’s big-hitting middle order early with quick wickets at the top, they have a good chance of controlling the batting innings from the beginning.
Ruturaj has a ‘length-y’ left arm pace problem
Ruturaj Gaikwad averaged 116 against left-arm pacers in IPL 2023, but this season so far, he has been troubled by left-arm pacers who have targeted him on a length and back of a length areas while coming around the wicket. In 2024, all his three dismissals have come against the left-arm pace, and he’s averaging only 5.7 against the bowling type.
In fact, his length delivery issues have persisted for some time agnostic of the bowling type, as he has been dismissed 12 times on length deliveries since IPL 2022. SRH have two very good left-arm pacers in their arsenal - Marco Jansen and T Natarajan, who can target this exact weakness of CSK’s new skipper.
Probable XIs
We can expect the same XI (and impact substitute) for SRH. Meanwhile, for CSK, Mustafizur Rahman has had some T20 World Cup-related visa issues, so he has gone back to Bangladesh to sort that out. They can replace him with left-arm seamer Mukesh Choudhary, who did well for them last season. Maheesh Theekshana is another option for Chennai.
SRH probable XI (along with impact sub.) - Travis Head, Mayank Agarwal, Abhishek Sharma, Aiden Markram, Heinrich Klaasen (wk), Abdul Samad, Shahbaz Ahmed, Pat Cummins (c), Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mayank Markande, Jaydev Unadkat, Umran Malik
CSK probable XI (along with impact sub.) - Ruturaj Gaikwad (c), Rachin Ravindra, Ajinkya Rahane, Daryl Mitchell, Ravindra Jadeja, Shivam Dube, Sameer Rizvi, MS Dhoni (wk), Deepak Chahar, Matheesha Pathirana, Mukesh Choudhary, Tushar Deshpande
TV and streaming details
The match will begin at 7:30 PM (toss at 7:00 PM) and will be shown on Jio Cinema (streaming) and Star Sports (TV) in India.