CSK, ravaged by injuries to premier pacers Deepak Chahar and Ben Stokes, will bank on left-arm spinner Ravindra Jadeja, offie Moeen Ali and Lankan mystery spinner Maheesh Theeksana (or Mitchell Santner) to try and keep a lid on the firepower of the Royals top order. Royals, on the other hand, have the two Indian spin wizards — R Ashwin and Yuzvendra Chahal — in their lineup to make it difficult for a CSK batting order that is showing signs of coming to life.
Ashwin, who will have to play a key role in the middle overs to ensure that the CSK middle-order doesn’t run away with the game, is eagerly looking forward to the surface that will be on offer.
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IPL 2023: Chennai Super Kings take on Rajasthan Royals in Chepauk
“It all depends on what the surface presents. In the last game here against Lucknow, it was very good. It’s all about adapting to the ground and playing the right shots. In T20s, more than the spinners coming to the fore, it’s about how the batter copes with opposition bowlers,” Ashwin said.
It is also about utilizing the spinners and that’s something CSK skipper MS Dhoni is a master of. Against Lucknow and Mumbai Indians, it was the captain’s brilliant use of Moeen Ali and Ravindra Jadeja at crucial junctures that brought things back for CSK. With his pace bowling depleted, Dhoni will launch his spin trio against the likes of Jos Butler.
