It was back in 2008. Rajasthan Royals (RR) needed 1 run from the last ball against Chennai Super Kings (CSK). L Balaji was bowling to Sohail Tanvir. Balaji bowled just short of a length, and Tanvir timed it well. The ball went towards wide mid-on. The CSK fielders were unable to stop the single. The underdogs RR, led by Shane Warne, became the first-ever champion of the Indian Premier League (IPL).
Time has flown since then. Balaji has been CSK’s bowling coach for three years now. Warne hung his boots from all forms of cricket in July 2013. Tanvir, however, is still playing in domestic leagues, but not anymore in India. Only one thing has remained unchanged since that inaugural year: MS Dhoni still leads the Yellow Army.
Eventually, the top two sides of the first edition occupied the bottom two places last year. In their respective opening ties in IPL 2021, they did not show a lot of promise. Rajasthan lost to Punjab Kings (PBKS) by four runs, while Chennai suffered a 7-wicket defeat against Delhi Capitals (DC). But both sides bounced back to make their presence felt in the tournament.
Match 12 of the IPL 2021 will feature Chennai and Rajasthan at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai, on 19 April. Rajasthan did a double over Dhoni & co. last year in the UAE – winning by 16 runs and 7 wickets.
The situation is completely different at the moment. Chennai cruised past Punjab in their last outing and chased down 107 runs with 26 balls to spare. The bowlers, who had taken 13-odd overs to pick up in the first wicket against Delhi, tumbled the Punjab batters from the start.
Deepak Chahar (4-1-13-4) gave his side an early advantage. Apart from Shardul Thakur (4-0-35-0), the bowlers picked up wickets at regular intervals as well as kept the run flow under control.
The batting seems more solid for Chennai since the arrival of Chinna Thala Suresh Raina. The only concern at the moment in their dugout is the form of Ruturaj Gaikwad. He has scored 5 in each of his two outings, off 5 and 16 balls, and has not looked comfortable. Despite that, CSK are likely to field an unchanged playing XI against Rajasthan.
Den it was and so shall it be! The #SuperFam and super fans have always been and still will be with us forever! #AndhaNaalNyabhagam #CSKvRR #WhistlePodu #Yellove 🦁💛 pic.twitter.com/THl6K0JK95
— Chennai Super Kings – Mask P😷du Whistle P🥳du! (@ChennaiIPL) April 19, 2021
Rajasthan, on the other hand, recently had got the better of Delhi in a last-over nail-biter. The forced inclusion of David Miller (62 in 43) in the starting line-up, as a replacement for Ben Stokes, came as a blessing in disguise. Chris Morris impressed with bat as well, finishing the game with an 18-ball 36 not out with four sixes.
Despite the absence of Jofra Archer, Rajasthan’s bowling restricted the power-packed Delhi batters within 147 after 20 overs. Jaydev Unadkat was adjudged Player of the Match for his brilliant spell of 4-0-15-3. They are unlikely to make changes to their XI, but if they do, Yashasvi Jaiswal may feature in his first game this season, for Manan Vohra.
Head to head
Chennai have played Rajasthan 23 times and have won 14 occasions.
Key Players:
Suresh Raina (Chennai Super Kings): Chinna Thala has scored 609 runs (in 21 innings) against Rajasthan. He is likely to be key for Chennai yet again, although he is playing a new role in Chennai’s line-up this year, at No. 4.
Jos Buttler (Rajasthan Royals): The injury of Stokes has put extra pressure on Buttler’s shoulders. Chennai, however, are one of his favourite opponents in the past few years. Buttler hit 216 runs in five innings against them, with a strike rate of 152.
Likely XIs:
Chennai Super Kings: Ruturaj Gaikwad, Faf du Plessis, Moeen Ali, Suresh Raina, Ambati Rayudu, Sam Curran, MS Dhoni (c & wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Dwayne Bravo, Shardul Thakur, Deepak Chahar
Rajasthan Royals: Manan Vohra, Jos Buttler, Sanju Samson (c & wk), Shivam Dube, David Miller, Riyan Parag, Rahul Tewatia, Chris Morris, Jaydev Unadkat, Chetan Sakariya, Mustafizur Rahman
Prediction:
Chennai Super Kings to win the contest.