Rajasthan kick starts their Indian T20 League 2020 campaign with a clash against the in-form Chennai.
Team Preview
After a thrilling start to India’s T20 season, Rajasthan gets underway their Indian T20 League campaign on Tuesday against Chennai. Experts are not giving value for money to the Rajasthan side, who put their money on the youngsters in last year’s auction. Steve Smith is fully back as the captain but they are going to miss Jos Butler and Ben Stokes in the opening fixture. Archer is back in the training session and he will lead the bowling attack. In the first three matches, pacers had good numbers and Smith got the idea to make the balanced side against Chennai who defeated defending champions Mumbai in the opening fixture by 5 wickets.
Nobody was giving the edge to Chennai but Dhoni won the important toss and made some brave attempts to pick the best side by dropping Bravo and Tahir. Rayudu and Faf got runs at the top. Ngidi and Sam Curran also left an impact with their top-notch performances. The yellow army is likely to go ahead with the same playing XI on Tuesday. In the absence of Butler and Stokes, Smith could try Tom Curran and David Miller as overseas players. The top-order would be a worrying sign for Rajasthan. Their fortune will be decided on their Indian player’s success. Chennai is the more balanced side than Rajasthan and they compete in all departments.
Pitch Report
Sharjah Cricket Stadium will host the first match of the tournament and the ground is a pure batting track. The ground is way different than Abu Dhabi and Dubai. Pacers have slight help with the new ball. With the good bowling unit, 150 is a defendable score. Chasing would still be a trendsetter in the tournament until the surfaces get slow.
Possible XI
Rajasthan
Yashasvi Jaiswal, David Miller, Sanju Samson, Steve Smith(c), Robin Uthappa, Riyan Parag, Tom Curran, Jofra Archer, Shreyas Gopal, Jaydev Unadkat, Mayank Markande
Chennai
Murali Vijay, Shane Watson, Faf du Plessis, Ambati Rayudu, Kedar Jadhav, MS Dhoni (c & wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Sam Curran, Deepak Chahar, Piyush Chawla, Lungi Ngidi
Key Players
Rajasthan
Jofra Archer
Indian T20 League career – M: 21, Wickets: 26, Avg: 23.69
Sanju Samson
Last season – Runs: 342, Avg: 34.20, SR: 148.69
Chennai
Lungi Ngidi
Indian T20 League career – M: 8, Wickets: 14, Avg: 13.85
Faf Du Plessis
Last season – Runs: 396, Avg: 36, SR: 123.36
Last outing: 58 (44)
