The contest between these two teams are dominated by CSK by a thin margin and we have witnessed some of the greats of the game in their rivalry. Players like MS Dhoni, Suresh Raina, Ravindra Jadeja, Shane Watson, Sanju Samson and R Ashwin have taken part in this rivalry. Shane Watson and Suresh Raina being the top scorer in these match ups where as the spin twin R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja being the top wicket takers and interesting part is that both of these bowlers have played for both the teams in IPL. Ravindra Jadeja made his IPL debut as Rajasthan Royals player under the leadership of Legendary leg spinner Shane Warne.
It has been an evenly placed matches between these two teams .Both teams like chasing as well as setting up a target for the opposition . CSK with equal no of wins when it comes to chasing a total or batting first . Where as RR winning five matches batting first and eight matches while chasing against CSK .
One thing which stands out for the Champion team is they have a great record at their home ground and CSK have beaten the Royals six times out of the eight matches they played in Chennai. This shows the dominance of CSK at their home. They managed to maintain a win percentage of 75% against Rajasthan Royals in Chepauk .
Rajasthan Royals have played very few matches against the Chennai Super Kings in Jaipur. CSK and RR faced each other seven times at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium, Jaipur and it has been a close contest with RR winning 4 matches and CSK winning 3 matches. This shows that CSK would not bother to play in Jaipur as they have good record as a visiting team in Jaipur. RR on the other hand will be looking to better their record against the five times champs CSK in Jaipur.
In last five matches Rajasthan Royals have dominated Chennai Super Kings by winning four matches in last five on them. CSK will be looking ahead to better this records and win more matches against the Royals .
Shane Watson is the highest Scorer in RR vs CSK matches .He played for both the teams and was a crucial part of both the teams . In RR he played as their main all rounder but in CSK his role was very different ,he played as a proper batter and opened the innings for CSK.
The highest wicket taker in RR vs CSK matches is Sir Ravindra Jadeja. He has taken in total 20 wickets while playing in this rivalry . Jaddu also one of those players who played for both these franchises.
This match was one of the historical match not only in RR vs CSK rivalry but in the history of Indian Cricket. While batting first the host set up a target of 152 for the CSK.In reply CSK’s top order failed but half centuries from Ambati Rayudu and Captain MS Dhoni kept the visitors in the game. While Mitchell Santner and Jadeja was batting Ben Stokes bowled a over waist ball which was initially called as no ball but later reversed by the umpires and that's when Captain cool lost his cool and he entered the ground in anger.
This incident shook everyone as MS Dhoni who is often seen as a quiet and calm personality lost his cool and after a few minutes of confrontation with the on field umpires. Dhoni left the ground and that ball was given as a no ball and it had to finish in a grand style. CSK needed a boundary on the last ball to win the match and Mitchell Santner hit Ben Stokes over Long on for six and finished the game in dramatic fashion for CSK. MS Dhoni was later fined 50% of his match fees for his misconduct during the course of the game. MS Dhoni was also given the Player of the Match award for his knock of 58(43).
During this era huge scores in T20s were not so common but in this match something berserk happened . While batting first CSK openers Murail Vijay and Matthew Hayden got off to flyer. Both were smashing bowlers on every parts of the ground. Matthew Hayden got out after a quick fire 34(21) but Murali Vijay continued the assault and he was accompanied by Albie Morkel who scored 62(34) with 5 huge sixes.
CSK finished with a huge score of 246/4 kudos to Murali Vijay’s knock of 127(56). It was always going to a big run chase for the Royals but they decided to fight back as RR opener Naman Ojha took the attack on CSK bowlers and he was supported by Shane Watson but the target proved to be too much for the Royals and they lost the game by 23 runs .
Sanju Samson(c) , Shubham Dubey , V Suryavanshi , Kunal Rathore , Shimron Hetmyer , Yashasvi Jaiswal , Dhruv Jurel, Riyan Parag, Nitish Rana , Yudhvir Charak , Jofra Archer , M Theeksana , W Hasaranga , Akash Madhwal , Kumar Kartikeya , Tushar Deshpande, F Farooqui , K Maphaka , Ashok Sharma , Sandeep Sharma
RR management has decided to go with a young squad this season as we can see too many youngsters in their set up lead by captain Sanju Samson. They had good auctions but it was always going to be hard to find replacements of players like Jos Butler, Ashwin ,Yuzi and Trent Boult. Their strength is definitely their Indian batting lineup and weakness can be their fast bowling department.
Ruturaj Gaikwad(c) , Ms Dhoni , Devon Conway , Rachin Ravindra, Rahul Tripathi, Deepak Hooda, Vansh Bedi , A Siddharth, Shaik Rasheed , Ashwin , Sam Curran, Vijay Shankar,Ravindra Jadeja, Anshul Kamboj , K Nagarkoti , Jamie Overton , R Ghosh ,Shivam Dube , K Ahmed , Noor Ahmad , M Choudhary, Shreyas Gopal , Nathan Ellis , Gurjanpreet Singh, M Pathirana.
CSK had one of the best auctions and retention. They managed to retain their core and also add players who could add value to the team and the team culture. CSK didn't buy match winners in the auction but players who can win matches in a specific conditions. Also the uncapped player MS Dhoni will be seen again in yellow . CSK greatest strength is their all rounder’s , almost every player can bat as well as bowl a few overs which is a game changing asset in T20 cricket .
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