After a near perfect start to the 14th edition of the Indian Premier League, the focus now shifts to last year's runner-ups. The contest marks the debut of Pant as the skipper of his franchise and in his very first test, the wicket-keeper batsman faces the man he idolised growing up. The capital franchise trail 8-15 against the men from the South in the head-to-head battle. CSK have made a few reinforcements in their team since the disappointment of last season. The return of Suresh Raina is expected to boost the team's middle-order that looked incredibly fragile last season. Faf du Plessis had a pretty good IPL season last year for Chennai wherein he scored 449 runs at an average of 40.81. He has been a consistent performer for Chennai Super Kings and will be a safe multiplier pick for this match.
Both the teams will be missing a few key players. CSK paceman Lungi Ngidi has recently arrived from South Africa and is undergoing quarantine. Due to the same reason, Kagiso Rabada and Anrich Nortje are also out of the fixture. Considering how well Rabada and Nortje had done for DC last year, the duo's absence could be the big difference between the two sides. While Ravichandran Ashwin is set to hold on to his spot in the team, it will be a toss-up between Praveen Dubey and Amit Mishra for the second spinner's spot. The next overseas slot will be contested between Chris Woakes and Sam Curran. While Curran is a newcomer, Woakes couldn't be a part of the DC squad last season despite being bought in the IPL 2020 auction having pulled out due to other commitments.
DC likely playing XI vs CSK: Prithvi Shaw, Shikhar Dhawan, Steve Smith, Rishabh Pant, Marcus Stoinis, Chris Woakes/Tom Curran, Ravichandran Ashwin, Praveen Dubey/Amit Mishra, Ishant Sharma, Umesh Yadav
CSK Predicted XI: Ruturaj Gaikwad, Robin Uthappa, Suresh Raina, MS Dhoni (c/wk), Dwayne Bravo, Sam Curran, Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Deepak Chahar, Lungi Ngidi, Imran Tahir
