Chennai Super Kings (CSK) are taking on Punjab Kings (PBKS) in Match 49 of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024. The stage is set at the iconic MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai, where fans gathered in anticipation of an exhilarating contest.
PBKS captain, Sam Curran, won the toss and elected to field first, opting to take advantage of the conditions early on in the game. This decision marked the ninth toss lost in ten games for CSK skipper Ruturaj Gaikwad in the ongoing 17th season of the cash-rich league, highlighting a trend of unfortunate luck in the toss department for the CSK team.
While Punjab made no alterations to their final XI, the CSK management opted for a couple of changes in their playing lineup. The absence of the fast-bowling duo, Matheesha Pathirana and Tushar Deshpande, from the CSK squad was notable.
Reason behind the absence of Matheesha Pathirana and Tushar Deshpande
Notably, during the toss, Ruturaj mentioned that while they would have preferred to field first, they weren’t entirely sure due to uncertain conditions. He acknowledged the challenge of dew affecting defending totals but highlighted the team’s impressive previous performance despite this.
The CSK skipper also noted the absence of Pathirana and Tushar Deshpande due to injury and illness respectively, emphasizing the importance of setting a good score batting first.
“We would have fielded first, but we weren’t exactly sure. Always tough defending here with a lot of dew, but the fact that we won by 78 runs shows a lot about the team, but we’ll be missing out Pathirana and Tushar Deshpande today. We’ll have to get there early and make a good score. Every game is important. Pathirana has a slight niggle, Deshpande isn’t well, so we’ve Shardul and Richard Gleeson makes his debut,” said Ruturaj at the toss.
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CSK vs PBKS: Playing XIs of both teams
Chennai Super Kings: Ajinkya Rahane, Ruturaj Gaikwad (c), Daryl Mitchell, Moeen Ali, Shivam Dube, Ravindra Jadeja, MS Dhoni (wk), Shardul Thakur, Deepak Chahar, Richard Gleeson, Mustafizur Rahman
Punjab Kings: Jonny Bairstow, Sam Curran (c), Rilee Rossouw, Shashank Singh, Jitesh Sharma (wk), Ashutosh Sharma, Harpreet Brar, Harshal Patel, Kagiso Rabada, Rahul Chahar, Arshdeep Singh
Impact Substitutes of both sides
CSK: Sameer Rizvi, Mukesh Choudhary, Simarjeet Singh, Shaik Rasheed, Prashant Solanki
PBKS: Prabhsimran Singh, Liam Livingstone, Rishi Dhawan, Vidhwath Kaverappa, Harpreet Singh Bhatia
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