Follow UsTime is running out. Quite certainly, 14 points won’t be enough to make it to the playoffs this time. 16 is the minimum requirement which puts the writing on the wall for both these teams.
Chennai Super Kings (CSK) started slow. So slow that their chances of proceeding beyond the league stage are still on the runway. Reaching a position where they need to win all their games, they opted for a captaincy switch, handing the baton back to MS Dhoni. Under his reign, the team has started with a win but they still need five wins in a row to get to 16 points.
Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) still have the leeway of one defeat before getting into Chennai's position. But they are woefully out of form, losing three on a bounce at a critical phase in the league stage. It feels they are stuck in a rut where every limitation associated with their squad is coming into the limelight.
Hence, this is one of the more important clashes in IPL this week. A defeat for either of the sides will make it hard for them to stage a comeback. Not to forget the entertainment these two teams have provided over the years facing each other.
Two sluggish top-orders
The sluggish batting returns in the powerplay have hampered both sides. RCB have the lowest run-rate in the first six overs at 6.6 but CSK are not far away - 6.8 runs per over. The averages are also similar - RCB 23, CSK 23.2.
It is a bigger issue with RCB at the moment because it negates two of their batting pillars in Faf du Plessis and Virat Kohli. The skipper du Plessis has been hit and miss. Only twice he has scored a fifty. On the other eight occasions, his strike rate lingers at 94. It is all or nothing with du Plessis but when it is latter, it has left a negative impact on the innings.
Kohli isn’t much different. Since his 48 against Mumbai, his scores read 0, 0, 9 and 58. That 58 is probably the worst knock out of these based on impact.
Low sample size but CSK’s top-order appears to be on an upward curve. Ruturaj Gaikwad has slowly picked his form, scoring 202 runs in the last four games.
Harshal’s unexpected dip
Harshal Patel’s dip is directly linked with RCB’s decline. Since returning from the break, Harshal has only four wickets in five matches. But it is his economy where it hurts his team the most.
With his variations, he has been employed to break the momentum of the opposition during the middle and the slog overs. It is a vital role given RCB haven't picked enough wickets during the field restrictions. Harshal’s economy of only 5.5 before the break tells how effectively he was doing that. Since that one match hiatus due to a personal tragedy, that figure has soared to 9.6 runs per over.
The proportion of his short and back-of-a-length deliveries has risen from 54% to 64% between the two periods. That could be a consequence of his slower ones in the full length area getting carted more often.
Maybe the batters are reading him well or the pitches are not offering him enough grip. Whatever it is, RCB need their bowling MVP back at his best.
The contest
Ravindra Jadeja vs Glenn Maxwell (53 balls, 61 runs, 7 dismissals)
What makes Maxwell a special player at number four is his ability to tackle spinners. In IPL 2021, he averaged 52.8 against spin at a strike-rate of 154.4. Nearly 30 percent of his runs came through a variety of sweeps and ramp shots. It hasn’t worked to the same efficiency this season with spinners keeping a stump-to-stump line against him. Thrice he has been dismissed to that line this IPL.
Executing the same becomes more difficult against left-arm orthodox spinners who are more metronomic in terms of bowling tighter lines. This is where Ravindra Jadeja challenges the Australian more than any other spinner. With his faster pace, his modus operandi is perfectly suited to counter Maxwell’s recipe. It was his skiddy nature that snuck underneath the right-hander’s under edge when these two teams met in Match 22.
Maxwell’s 7 dismissals against Jadeja is the most he has been out to any spinner in T20s
Probable XIs
Royal Challengers Bangalore
RCB are playing their best XI and will believe they can turn things around. Hence, we can expect an unchanged side.
Faf du Plessis (c), Virat Kohli, Rajat Patidar, Glenn Maxwell, Mahipal Lomror, Shahbaz Ahmed, Dinesh Karthik (wk), Wanindu Hasaranga, Harshal Patel, Josh Hazlewood, Mohammad Siraj
Chennai Super Kings
Despite the win in the last game, we can see a number of changes from CSK. However, they will be dependent on the fitness of the contenders of a comeback: Dwayne Bravo and Moeen Ali. Bravo missed the last game due to a niggle while the latter was seen training for the first time after injuring his knee. Mitchell Santner can make way if one of them comes in.
CSK may also ponder a comeback for Shivam Dube. He hammered the RCB spinners all over the park when the two sides last met. Hence, Chennai’s XI is anybody’s guess.
Ruturaj Gaikwad, Devon Conway, Robin Uthappa, Ambati Rayudu, Ravindra Jadeja, MS Dhoni (c & wk), Dwayne Bravo/Moeen Ali/Mitchell Santner, Dwaine Pretorius, Simarjeet Singh, Maheesh Theekshana, Mukesh Choudhary
Venue: Maharashtra Cricket Association, Pune
Date & Time: May 4, 07:30 PM IST