Having suffered three defeats in their last four matches, defending champions Chennai Super Kings will look to address their concerns and avoid further slide down the IPL 2024 points table when they take on an inconsistent Punjab Kings in a reverse fixture at the picturesque HPCA Stadium in Dharamsala on Sunday afternoon.
It was only three days back when the Punjab Kings outclassed CSK by seven wickets at Chepauk, considered their fortress. The mid-season heartbreaks have left CSK on fifth of the table with 10 points and the five-time champions will hope the change of venue would bring a change in fortune as well with just four games to go to seal their place in the knockout stage.
As such the CSK management would be hoping that their batters will work on their lack of a middle-over charge against the PBKS spin twins of Harpreet Brar and Rahul Chahar, that left them with a below-par eventual score of 162-7.
CSK’s batting has also been over dependent on skipper Ruturaj Gaikwad and spin-hitter Shivam Dube, and in case once both have an off-day, the rest of the CSK batting order feels the pressure of bailing the team out due to lack of consistency.
Gaikwad has been the most consistent figure in their line-up, scoring five 50-plus scores so far but hasn’t got adequate support from the other end ever since the start of the tournament. While Rachin Ravindra lost his place at the top of the order due to lack of form, his replacement in veteran Ajinkya Rahane is no better as the veteran has failed to capitalise on the starts, while Ravindra Jadeja and Sameer Rizvi also struggled against spin.
The Yellow Brigade has also been hit with injury concerns of their key pacers, including Deepak Chahar, who limped off holding his hamstring after bowling just two balls and hasn’t travelled to the Himachal town for Sunday’s match.
CSK also have other players with fitness issues. Pacer Tushar Deshpande is reportedly down with flu but he has travelled to Dharamsala just as Sri Lankan recruit Matheesha Pathirana, who also missed the last game like Deshpande due to a niggle. Desperately needing at least three wins in the remaining games, the injury worries may have come at the wrong time for the Chennai outfit.
Punjab Kings, on the other hand, reignited their play-offs hopes with a late resurgence that saw them registering successive wins in their last three matches. Punjab, who became the second team after Mumbai Indians to beat the defending champions five times in a row, will hope to take advantage of CSK’s injury concerns and fancy their chances.
With back-to-back wins against Gujarat Titans, CSK and Kolkata Knight Riders, PBKS climbed to the seventh spot with 8 points and will need to carry the momentum to salvage their slim hopes.
For that, Punjab will once again pin their hopes on Jonny Bairstow, whose hundred against KKR helped the side chase down a record T20 score, while Rilee Rossouw, Shashank Singh and Prabhsimran Singh too have to fire in unison.
The bowling unit boasts of experienced names in Kagiso Rabada, Harshal Patel, Arshdeep Singh and Sam Curran and they need to be consistent. If PBKS hope to do an encore of their previous outing against CSK, the spin duo of Harpreet Brar and Rahul Chahar will have to raise their hands again.