IPL 2021: CSK vs KKR -Match 38 – Preview, Playing XI, Pitch Report & Updates

Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) come into the match having picked up a win in their last game. While CSK outclassed RCB by 6 wickets, KKR beat Mumbai Indians by 7 wickets. Skipper MS Dhoni has been spot on with his captaincy moves and has marshalled his bowling troops well. The bowlers led by Dwayne Bravo have been brilliant with their lines and lengths and have restricted teams like MI and RCB to below 160. The batting too has looked decent, with youngster Ruturaj Gaikwad leading the charge. CSK’s win over RCB by six wickets have now propelled them to the first position on the points table. 

Meanwhile, their opponents, Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) have turned a corner like no other and have gotten off the blocks pretty quickly in UAE. The management took a punt on young opener Venkatesh Iyer which has so far paid off, with the southpaw scoring 41 and 53 in two games.

Apart from that, Shubman Gill has also found some form and suddenly KKR’s batting, which was a problem in the IPL in India is looking good. Lockie Ferguson too has led the bowling well in the absence of Pat Cummins. The head-to-head is record is heavily in favour of CSK, with the team winning 15 matches as opposed to KKR winning 8.

Pitch Report

The match is going to be played at Abu Dhabi, a surface that tends to get slow as the match progresses. However, till now it has been very good to bat and teams have comfortably chased the scores. But we are not far when the wicket starts showing its true colours and make things difficult for teams chasing.

Predicted XI

Chennai Super Kings

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

Kolkata Knight Riders 

Shubman Gill, Venkatesh Iyer, Rahul Tripathi, Nitish Rana, Eoin Morgan (c), Dinesh Karthik (wk), Andre Russell, Sunil Narine, Lockie Ferguson, Varun Chakravarthy, Prasidh Krishna

Key Players 

Ruturaj Gaikwad 

The CSK young opener Ruturaj Gaikwad has carried the team’s batting ably. In the two outings so far, he has scored 88 and 38. He has provided the team good starts upfront and has allowed the middle-order batters to bat more freely. Gaikwad will look to continue with the same momentum.

Prasidh Krishna

The lanky KKR bowler gave the mighty Kieron Pollard a stare and tried to intimate him. Pollard certainly didn't like it. But one thing is clear Prasidh does not care about reputations and means business. So far, he has been good with the ball, picking five wickets for the team since resumption of IPL in UAE.