IPL 2018, CSK vs MI: Five players to watch out for
While all the action comes back to the Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium, Pune, the giants Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings already find themselves facing each other for the second time in the Vivo IPL 2018.
The first 20 days of the 11th edition of the Indian Premier League could hardly have been worse for Mumbai Indians. They have lost five of the six games they have played so far. To add insult to injury they have failed to defend 118 runs at their home den against Sunrisers Hyderabad by registering their joint least total in the history of IPL on Tuesday. But the points table doesn't probably give an accurate reflection of how Mumbai Indians have fared in the Indian Premier League 2018 so far. They have seen runs come at some stage from their top five batsmen except in the match against SRH, while the bowling hasn't been too bad. It's just that they couldn't cling on to those crucial moments in the matches and incurred losses with very small margins more often.
While on the other hand, the Mahendra Singh Dhoni-led side have hardly put a foot wrong despite losing a close game against KXIP. They have been on the roll this season with arguably the best batting line-up of the tournament. They have multiple match-winners in Watson, Rayudu, Bravo, Billings, Raina and the skipper himself. Their spin-heavy bowling line-up has also been decent thus far.
The last time the two teams met in the season opener at Wankhade and it had resulted in a compelling last-over finish with Kedar Jadhav and Dwayne Bravo taking CSK past the finish line.
With one team desperately finding winning ways and other cruising towards a play-offs spot, let's take a look at five players who could make an impact in this clash of titans.
#5 Surya Kumar Yadav
The Mumbai born right-handed batsman has been the most consistent of all the Mumbai Indians batsmen. With 230 runs to his name in six innings, the 27-year-old leads the batting chart for Mumbai Indians.
After a fine show in the middle-order at the beginning of the season, the youngster was promoted to open the innings and he has been exceptional in that role too.
The struggling Mumbai Indians would want the former KKR batsman to continue his rich vein form and score big in their clash against the table toppers, CSK.