IPL-2024: Chennai Super Kings to take on Lucknow Super Giants in Chennai: LSG opt to bowl
In IPL Cricket, Chennai Super Kings (CSK) will take on Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) at the M. A. Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai this evening. The match will start at 7.30 PM. Currently, CSK is at the 4th spot in the points table, whereas LSG is at the 5th spot. Lucknow Super Giants have won the toss and have opted to field.
Chennai Super Kings have had a scratchy time on the road – losing three out of the four games, but have been impeccable in Chepauk. They’re unbeaten at home in three games, and gear up to kick-start a stretch of three games at the venue where they’ll want to shrug off some of the scratchiness that’s been associated with them so far. Lucknow Super Giants are sailing in a similar boat. They have lost two of their three away games but get into a stretch of three home games after they take on CSK in Chennai.
As the teams head into a crucial phase of the season where each loss is going to bring in additional pressure, the weight of expectations and the importance is not lost on the teams, especially CSK.
“Of course it’s going to be very important, the closer you get to the back-end of the tournament, the wins become more important,” conceded Michael Hussey, the batting coach and added, “I mean anytime in the tournament wins are important. We’ve got a pretty good start but we’ve got a good record at home and that’s what we want to keep intact. If we can play well in the next three matches, it gives us a great chance.”
It came with a word of caution that could fit both teams. “But it’s also dangerous for us to think it’s just going to happen. And it’s dangerous for us to think too far ahead,” Hussey said.
“All our focus and attention needs to be on tomorrow night against LSG. That’s all we can focus on at the moment, try and take care of business in that game. And then we’ll look forward to the next one. If you start thinking that we’re going to win the next three matches then you’re taking your mind on what’s not important. I guess the short answer is we’re not looking too far ahead but important stage in the tournament, yeah,” he added.
The two teams faced off just three days ago, adding an edge to Tuesday’s contest courtesy the familiarity the two sets of players will have. The team combinations are unlikely to change too drastically given the short turnaround time between the games. In Lucknow, skipper KL Rahul had said that he had asked his team to be prepared to play against a vociferous support for the opposition. If they manage to silence those faithfuls on their home turf, it’ll give the team a big fillip in a see-sawing campaign.
Squads:
Lucknow Super Giants Squad: Quinton de Kock, KL Rahul(w/c), Nicholas Pooran, Marcus Stoinis, Deepak Hooda, Ayush Badoni, Krunal Pandya, Matt Henry, Ravi Bishnoi, Mohsin Khan, Yash Thakur, Arshin Kulkarni, Krishnappa Gowtham, Yudhvir Singh Charak, Manimaran Siddharth, Arshad Khan, Prerak Mankad, Amit Mishra, Kyle Mayers, Shamar Joseph, Ashton Turner, Naveen-ul-Haq, Devdutt Padikkal, Mayank Yadav
Chennai Super Kings Squad: Ajinkya Rahane, Rachin Ravindra, Ruturaj Gaikwad(c), Ravindra Jadeja, Shivam Dube, Sameer Rizvi, Moeen Ali, MS Dhoni(w), Deepak Chahar, Tushar Deshpande, Mustafizur Rahman, Matheesha Pathirana, Shardul Thakur, Shaik Rasheed, Nishant Sindhu, Mitchell Santner, Daryl Mitchell, Aravelly Avanish, Maheesh Theekshana, RS Hangargekar, Simarjeet Singh, Mukesh Choudhary, Prashant Solanki, Ajay Jadav Mandal, Richard Gleeson
