🏏IPL 2024: Match 39 - CSK vs LSG at Chennai @ 7:30PM IST🏏 - Page 2

Batters To Watch(recent stats)

Ruturaj Gaikwad, CSK

10 M • 406 Runs • 45.11 Avg • 137.62 SR

Shivam Dube, CSK

10 M • 300 Runs • 42.86 Avg • 158.73 SR

Nicholas Pooran, LSG

10 M • 312 Runs • 62.4 Avg • 165.07 SR

KL Rahul, LSG

7 M • 286 Runs • 40.86 Avg • 143 SR

Bowlers To Watch(recent stats)

Matheesha Pathirana, CSK

7 M • 15 Wkts • 7.86 Econ • 11.2 SR

Mustafizur Rahman, CSK

6 M • 11 Wkts • 9.42 Econ • 13.09 SR

Yash Thakur, LSG

9 M • 15 Wkts • 9.96 Econ • 12.73 SR

Naveen-ul-Haq, LSG

8 M • 10 Wkts • 9.49 Econ • 18.4 SR

Chennai Super Kings have had a scratchy time on the road - losing three out of the four games, but have been impeccable in Chepauk. They're unbeaten at home in three games, and gear up to kick-start a stretch of three games at the venue where they'll want to shrug off some of the scratchiness that's been associated with them so far. Lucknow Super Giants are sailing in a similar boat. They have lost two of their three away games but get into a stretch of three home games after they take on CSK in Chennai.

As the teams head into a crucial phase of the season where each loss is going to bring in additional pressure, the weight of expectations and the importance is not lost on the teams, especially CSK.

"Of course it's going to be very important, the closer you get to the back-end of the tournament, the wins become more important," conceded Michael Hussey, the batting coach and added, "I mean anytime in the tournament wins are important. We've got a pretty good start but we've got a good record at home and that's what we want to keep intact. If we can play well in the next three matches, it gives us a great chance."

It came with a word of caution that could fit both teams. "But it's also dangerous for us to think it's just going to happen. And it's dangerous for us to think too far ahead," Hussey said.

"All our focus and attention needs to be on tomorrow night against LSG. That's all we can focus on at the moment, try and take care of business in that game. And then we'll look forward to the next one. If you start thinking that we're going to win the next three matches then you're taking your mind on what's not important. I guess the short answer is we're not looking too far ahead but important stage in the tournament, yeah," he added.

The two teams faced off just three days ago, adding an edge to Tuesday's contest courtesy the familiarity the two sets of players will have. The team combinations are unlikely to change too drastically given the short turnaround time between the games. In Lucknow, skipper KL Rahul had said that he had asked his team to be prepared to play against a vociferous support for the opposition. If they manage to silence those faithfuls on their home turf, it'll give the team a big fillip in a see-sawing campaign.

Thank you Raji for the thread and for tagging me.

Best wishes to both teams and a bit more for CSK.

When: Chennai Super Kings vs Lucknow Super Giants, April 23, 2024 at 19:30 IST

Where: MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chepauk

What to expect: The conditions in Chepauk have been on expected lines with both spinners and the pacers with variations making impact in the three games played here so far in the season. Under hot and humid conditions that prevail in the city, the pitch is unlikely to change in character.

Teams

Chennai Super Kings

Injuries/Availability: There is no reported injury concern.

Tactics & Match-ups: Moeen Ali, who was brought in for Daryl Mitchell, offers CSK a chance to throw a challenge to LSG's left-handers - particularly Quinton de Kock and Nicholas Pooran. He has dismissed the former 6 times in T20 cricket and could be an option in the powerplay to target de Kock early. Additonally, LSG have been losing more wickets than any other team against left-arm pace since the previous IPL. It brings Mustafizur Rahman squarely back into the equation even though he was CSK's most expensive bowler in their previous outing against LSG.

Probable XI:Ruturaj Gaikwad, Rachin Ravindra, Ajinkya Rahane, Shivam Dube, Moeen Ali, Sameer Rizvi, Ravindra Jadeja, MS Dhoni, Deepak Chahar, Mustafizur Rahman, Matheesha Pathirana [Impact Sub: Tushar Deshpande]

Lucknow Super Giants

Injuries/Availability: Mayank Yadav has stayed back in Lucknow with him likely to be considered from LSG's next outing.

Tactics and match-ups: Marcus Stoinis has been dismissed five times against spin this season, the most for any batter.

Probable XI: KL Rahul, Quinton de Kock, Deepak Hooda, Marcus Stoinis, Nicholas Pooran, Ayush Badoni, Krunal Pandya, Matt Henry, Ravi Bishnoi, Yash Thakur, Mohsin Khan [Impact sub: Devdutt Padikkal]

Did you know?

- KL Rahul has had his best phase in the Powerplay since 2018 with his S/R touching 150. Additionally, he has a good record against CSK scoring four fifties in eight innings.

- Shardul Thakur has dismissed Nicholas Pooran five times in 18 balls in all T20s

What they said

"He's a great player, he's been a fantastic player for a long period of time. He's very difficult to bowl to because he plays great shots all around the ground. He seems to be in a very good mindset at the moment, he looks confident and he's playing some good cricket. That makes him very dangerous. And I think he's also got the ability to go on and play that big innings, he can score 80-plus. If you've got a batter in your line-up who can score 80-plus then you're going to win a lot of games. So I guess if we can get the ball moving early that'll be a big bonus for us. To both him and Quinton de Kock. That was one of our problems in the last game, we couldn't break that partnership until very late." - Micheal Hussey on how LSG plan to stop KL Rahul.

Thanks for the tag

All the best to both teams