CSK vs KKR, IPL 2023: List of Impact Players in today's match
The Chennai Super Kings (CSK) have won the toss and opted to bat first against the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) at the MA Chidambaram Stadium on Sunday, May 14.
CSK have retained the same side that won against the Delhi Capitals (DC) in their last match. Kolkata, on the other hand, made one tactical change, bringing in Vaibhav Arora in place of left-arm spinner Anukul Roy.
Here is the list of the Impact Player subs in today's match:
Chennai Super Kings: Matheesha Pathirana, Nishant Sindhu, Subhranshu Senapati, Shaik Rasheed, and Akash Singh.
Kolkata Knight Riders: Venkatesh Iyer, Anukul Roy, Narayan Jagadeesan, Umesh Yadav, and Lockie Ferguson.
KKR injected batter Venkatesh Iyer in place of leg-spinner Suyash Sharma as the Impact Player sub. CSK, on the other hand, brought in Sri Lankan-born Matheesha Pathirana.
Speaking at the toss, CSK skipper MS Dhoni predicted that the wicket has gotten slower as the tournament progressed. Dhoni also added that he wants the fielding department to step up as IPL 2023 reaches its business end.
"We'll bat first. Right from the start of the season, we're uncertain of the wicket. It does tend to slow down as the innings progresses," Dhoni said. "We've told the openers to access the wicket quickly and according to that, keep revisiting what a good score is. It's important to keep revisiting what is a good score and keep playing your shots when the ball is in your area."
"We can slightly improve our fielding. We've got good fielders, but the others have to step up. If that 5-10% can be improved, it would be great," he added.
KKR skipper Nitish Rana, on the other hand, stressed that they would've liked to bat first as well. He predicted that the wicket looks a bit sticky and spinners will play a role in the second half.
"Would have liked to bat first as well," Rana said. "The deck looks sticky, so would have wanted to bat first and get our spinners in play. I think the pressure was there in the first game as well, it is there now as well.
"Such is the IPL, we can't take it lightly. If any department falters, then 90% of the result goes against you. So we need to be clinical in all departments. One change for us - Anukul Roy goes out, Vaibhav Arora comes in."
CSK vs KKR Playing XIs
Chennai Super Kings XI: Ruturaj Gaikwad, Devon Conway, Ajinkya Rahane, Shivam Dube, Moeen Ali, Ambati Rayudu, Ravindra Jadeja, MS Dhoni (c & wk), Deepak Chahar, Tushar Deshpande, and Maheesh Theekshana.
Kolkata Knight Riders XI: Jason Roy, Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), Nitish Rana (c), Rinku Singh, Andre Russell, Shardul Thakur, Sunil Narine, Vaibhav Arora, Harshit Rana, Varun Chakravarthy, and Suyash Sharma.