Match details
Chennai Super Kings (CSK) vs Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB)
Chennai, 1930 IST (1400 GMT)
Big picture: Can RCB break the Chennai jinx?
But right now, for the duration of this IPL, du Plessis has shed his yellow second skin for the red and blue of Royal Challengers Bengaluru. Once a crowd favourite at Chepauk, he will play his first game as RCB captain in Chennai on Friday. However, his counterpart will not be the man du Plessis would have expected to go up against.
Chahal is now with Rajasthan Royals while Moeen could line up against RCB on Friday along with three other spinners – Maheesh Theekshana, Ravindra Jadeja and part-timer Rachin Ravindra – on what could be another slow pitch. In contrast, RCB don’t have a world-class spinner in their ranks: their options are Mayank Dagar (left-arm fingerspin), Himanshu Sharma (mystery spin), Karn Sharma (legspin) and Swapnil Singh (left-arm fingerspin). It seems like RCB have put all their eggs in the batting basket for both their home and away games this season.
Team news: Dhoni and Kohli return
Toss and Impact Player strategy
Chennai Super Kings
Possible bat-first XI: 1 Ruturaj Gaikwad (capt), 2 Rachin Ravindra, 3 Ajinkya Rahane, 4 Moeen Ali, 5 Daryl Mitchell, 6 Shivam Dube, 7 Ravindra Jadeja, 8 MS Dhoni (wk), 9 Shardul Thakur, 10 Deepak Chahar, 11 Maheesh Theekshana
Possible bowl-first XI: 1 Ruturaj Gaikwad (capt), 2 Rachin Ravindra, 3 Ajinkya Rahane, 4 Moeen Ali, 5 Daryl Mitchell, 6 Ravindra Jadeja, 7 MS Dhoni (wk), 8 Shardul Thakur, 9 Deepak Chahar, 10 Maheesh Theekshana, 11 Mukesh Choudhary/Tushar Deshpande
Royal Challengers Bengaluru
One of Anuj Rawat, Mahipal Lomror or Suyash Prabhudessai might be picked to lengthen RCB’s batting if they bat first, to be replaced by a spinner – Himanshu or Karn – in the second innings. Or vice versa.
Possible bat-first XI: 1 Faf du Plessis (capt), 2 Virat Kohli, 3 Rajat Patidar, 4 Glenn Maxwell, 5 Cameron Green, 6 Anuj Rawat/Mahipal Lomror/Suyash Prabhudessai, 7 Dinesh Karthik (wk), 8 Alzarri Joseph, 9 Mayank Dagar, 10 Akash Deep/Vyshak Vijaykumar, 11 Mohammed Siraj
Possible bowl-first XI: 1 Faf du Plessis (capt), 2 Virat Kohli, 3 Rajat Patidar, 4 Glenn Maxwell, 5 Cameron Green, 6 Dinesh Karthik (wk), 7 Alzarri Joseph, 8 Mayank Dagar, 9 Akash Deep/Vyshak Vijaykumar, 10 Himanshu Sharma/Karn Sharma, 11 Mohammed Siraj
Stats that matter
Pitch and conditions
The big question
If du Plessis, Maxwell and Green start for RCB, who should they pick as their fourth overseas player?
1.5K votes
Quotes
“I had the pleasure of working with Rachin of the New Zealand side last year in the UK. And watching him operate then, I had no doubt that he would fit in well. He’s very eager to learn. He’s very early in his international career. But with each hurdle, he’s clambered over pretty well.”
CSK coach Stephen Fleming on Rachin Ravindra
“He’s a proven international performer and a proven IPL performer. He has pace and bounce at a good release height. There’s a lot to like there and the same is true for our other overseas quicks. Faf knows Alzarri well [having worked with him at the CPL with Andy Flower]. So, that’s why he was a key target for us at the auction.”
RCB director of cricket Mo Bobat on Alzarri Joseph
Deivarayan Muthu is a sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo
