Chennai Super Kings will play the Delhi Daredevils in the 50th game of
the IPL and given the way in which all the teams are poised, this will be a very
important game from the tournament's point of view. Chennai have 10 points in
their kitty so far and have three games to play, whereas before the start of Delhi's
game against Mumbai, they also had three to play but were there with 12 points.
Click for Live Score Card of Chennai Super Kings Vs Delhi DaredevilsThe Chennai Super Kings will heavily depend on the way the side bats,
because it is their batting on the slow nature of the tracks that has given
way in the last few games. The core of the issue lies with the way Matthew Hayden
has batted in the tournament so far, and without too many runs from his bat,
the side has failed to get going.
Of course, Chennai has done well with the other opener in Murali Vijay,
which has saved them some of the blushes.
The other issue that the side has faced is with the selection. It is a surprise
that someone of the stature of Muthiah Muralitharan has stayed away from
the playing eleven for so long and it remains to be seen whether Dhoni will
continue to not pick him up. What is more surprising is the fact the tracks
have slowed down considerably and that has made batting against spin bowling
rather difficult in the tournament in the last five days or so.
From the point of Delhi, the captain, Gautam Gambhir, had said after
their game against the Punjab side that they will look to play games outside
Delhi given the slow nature of the Kotla wicket. Now that they are in Chennai,
they would have the one complaint that every side has had so far, and that is
to do with the weather. The hot and the muggy nature of the city will mean that
the Delhi bowling will need to make a quick adjustment to the city and get going.
Gambhir's batting form has remained a concern through most of the tournament,
but what has been of a greater concern has been his running between the wickets.
He has been run-out thrice now, and that is something that even he acknowledged
was something that he never understood.
Apart from Gambhir, Virender Sehwag needs to get into the Chennai bowling,
and especially at the start of the innings, without which, they can expect to
be knocked out by the Super Kings.
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