In Match 25 of the 2020 edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL), three-time winners Chennai Super Kings (CSK) will square off with Virat Kohli's Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in what would be the most-anticipated clash at the Dubai International Stadium on Saturday.
RCB and CSK are currently standing at the fifth and sixth spot, respectively in the IPL 2020 points table. While Bangalore have clinched three wins from five matches they have played so far, Mahendra Singh Dhoni's CSK are struggling this year and have managed just two wins in their first six games.
Unlike previous seasons, Kohli's side is showing more intent and consistency this time around. A balanced performance from both batting and bowling line-up saw RCB clinch victories against Sunrisers Hyderad (10 runs), Mumbai Indians (Super Over) and Rajasthan Royals (8 wickets).However, they slumped to a 97-run and a 59-run defeat against Kings XI Punjab and Delhi Capitals, respectively.
RCB will look to shrug off their loss against the Shreyas Iyer-led side in their previous fixture and will be desperate to seal the win against CSK in order to not dent their hopes of going into the knockouts.
CSK, on the other hand, are looking like a pale shadow of their usual dominating self this year.The Chennai-based franchise have managed to clinch victories only against Rohit Sharma's Mumbai Indians (5 wickets) and Kings XI Punjab (10 wickets), while they suffered defeats against Rajasthan Royals, Delhi Capitals, Sunrisers Hyderabad and Kings XI Punjab.
As far as head-to-head record between the two sides, MS Dhoni's team hold a big advantage over RCB. The two sides have met each other 24 times in the cash-rich league, with CSK clinching wins on 15 occasions while RCB emerging victorious in eight matches.
In fact, CSK have also won four out of their previous five fixtures against the RCB and will be keen to continue their dominance over Kohli's side in this year's IPL clash.
The Bangalore-based, on the otherhand, will be desperate to not slip-up this time around.
However, Virat Kohli's side will head into the clash against CSK as favourites considering their current form in the tournament.
CSK vs RCB, Dream11 Team Prediction
Wicketkeeper: MS Dhoni
Batsmen: Virat Kohli, AB de Villiers, Ambati Rayudu,Devdutt Padikkal, Faf du Plessis
All-rounders: Shivam Dube, Sam Curran
Bowlers: Shardul Thakur, Yuzvendra Chahal, Navdeep Saini
Probable XIs:
Chennai Super Kings - Shane Watson, Faf du Plessis, Ambati Rayudu, MS Dhoni(w/c), Kedar Jadhav, Ravindra Jadeja, Dwayne Bravo, Sam Curran, Shardul Thakur, Deepak Chahar, Karn Sharma
Royal Challengers Bangalore - Devdutt Padikkal, Aaron Finch, Virat Kohli(c), AB de Villiers(w), Moeen Ali, Shivam Dube, Washington Sundar, Isuru Udana, Navdeep Saini, Mohammed Siraj, Yuzvendra Chahal
The two squads are as follows:
Royal Challengers Bangalore: Virat Kohli (c), AB de Villiers (wk), Devdutt Padikkal, Aaron Finch, Moeen Ali, Shivam Dube, Washington Sundar, Isuru Udana, Navdeep Saini, Mohammed Siraj, Yuzvendra Chahal, Umesh Yadav, Dale Steyn, Parthiv Patel, Pawan Negi, Chris Morris, Pavan Deshpande, Josh Philippe, Shahbaz Ahmed, Adam Zampa, Gurkeerat Singh Mann
Chennai Super Kings: MS Dhoni (c & wk), Shane Watson, Faf du Plessis, Ambati Rayudu, Kedar Jadhav, Sam Curran, Ravindra Jadeja, Dwayne Bravo, Shardul Thakur, Deepak Chahar, Karn Sharma, Murali Vijay, Lungi Ngidi, Imran Tahir, Josh Hazlewood, Mitchell Santner, Ravisrinivasan Sai Kishore, N Jagadeesan, Ruturaj Gaikwad, KM Asif, Monu Kumar, Piyush Chawla
The tie is the second match of the second double header of the season and will kickstart at 7.30 pm.The clash will be telecast on Star Sports Network, while the live streaming of the matches will also be available on Star’s streaming application Hotstar.
