How the Men in Yellow may lineup in the tournament opener
We are less than 60 hours from the start of the Indian Premier League 2018. The inaugural match of the season will be played between the arch-rivals Chennai Super Kings and Mumbai Indians at the Wankhede on Saturday. Rohit Sharma will be leading the Mumbai Indians side while MS Dhoni is back for Chennai Super Kings.
Both teams have bought some exciting players in the auction. Mumbai Indians added Evin Lewis, Ishan Kishan, Pat Cummins, Mustafizur Rahman, and Ben Cutting to their squad. Chennai Super Kings bought Shane Watson, Mark Wood, Lungi Ngidi, Imran Tahir, and Kedar Jadhav. Mitchell Santner is injured and a replacement is yet to be announced. Faf du Plessis could most likely miss the first few games because of a finger injury.
Without much ado, let’s take a look at the probable playing XI of Chennai Super Kings.
#1 Openers
Murali Vijay is back with the Chennai Super Kings. He was a part of the successful CSK squad that lifted 2 titles but was let go in 2014. The Tamil Nadu opener has scored 2511 runs in 100 IPL games so far. Murali Vijay is an experienced T20 opener and has played a lot of cricket in Wankhede. With Faf most likely out for at least first few games, he is the front-runner to open the batting for Chennai Super Kings. Wankhede track will offer pace for the batsmen and suit Vijay’s stroke play.
Shane Watson is one of the most experienced and successful T20 all-rounders in the world. The 36-year-old Aussie all-rounder has played 102 games in IPL so far, a majority of them opening the innings. He has scored 2622 runs in IPL at an average of 31.21 and a strike rate of 139. He could partner Vijay at the top and his big hitting abilities will be more than useful in the power play, against the likes of Bumrah and Cummins.