IPL 2021: Match 38, CSK v KKR- COC Predicted Playing XIs

CSK had defeated KKR in their previous encounter in IPL 2021.

The first match of the double-header on September 26, 2021, will see Chennai Super Kings (CSK) taking on Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in the 38^th match of the IPL 2021 in Abu Dhabi.

Both CSK and KKR are coming off two wins in two matches in UAE. The last time these two teams met in IPL 2021, was in Mumbai and KKR almost pulled off an amazing chase of 220 runs despite being 31/5 at one stage.

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While CSK has been clinical in their gameplay in the second half of the IPL 2021, while KKR has thrown caution to the wind and both of their victories in UAE have come in super quick time, boosting their net run rate on the way as well.

With this enthralling contest in mind, Team COC brings to you the Predicted Playing XIs for the CSK v KKR match in Abu Dhabi.

CHENNAI SUPER KINGS

The Chennai Super Kings have gotten the hang of conditions in UAE, far better than their performance in IPL 2020. Openers Faf du Plessis and Ruturaj Gaikwad have finally taken the powerplay by the horns and have been scoring at a rate, batters should do in the first six overs.

Middle-order of Ambati Rayudu, Moeen Ali, and Suresh Raina have done well with Dhoni, Jadeja, and Bravo providing the finishing touches as well. Their batting has come to the party when needed and in both the games.

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Bowling-wise, Deepak Chahar, Shardul Thakur, and Josh Hazlewood have done a terrific job of either picking early wickets or keeping the scoring rate down. Jadeja and Ali have done more than enough in the spin department and Bravo has performed well as the all-rounder to keep Sam Curran out of the playing XI.

KOLKATA KNIGHT RIDERS

KKR team has taken their coach Brendon McCullum’s mantra of playing fearless cricket to another level as they have found an explosive opening pair in Venkatesh Iyer and Shubman Gill aided by Rahul Tripathi and Nitish Rana to form a formidable top order.

Then the middle order is no novice with Eoin Morgan, Andre Russell, and Dinesh Karthik waiting in the wings to open their arms and slam a few out of the park. Morgan’s captaincy has also been very good, a complete contrast from their first-half performance when they were confused on what type of game they should play.

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Even the bowling has been attacking with Varun Chakravarthy and Sunil Narine taking the lead in the spin department and Lockie Ferguson and Prasidh Krishna, along with Russell doing the damage with pace.

This will be quite a lip-smacking encounter as CSK is on the cusp of qualifying for the playoffs, while KKR has nothing to lose here and in fact, has become contenders to make it into the top four, but need to constantly keep winning the games.  

CSK COC Predicted Playing XI:

Faf du Plessis, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Moeen Ali, Suresh Raina, Ambati Rayudu, MS Dhoni (C&WK), Ravindra Jadeja, Dwayne Bravo, Shardul Thakur, Deepak Chahar, Josh Hazlewood

KKR COC Predicted Playing XI:

Venkatesh Iyer, Shubman Gill, Rahul Tripathi, Eoin Morgan (C), Nitish Rana, Andre Russell, Dinesh Karthik (WK), Sunil Narine, Lockie Ferguson, Prasidh Krishna, Varun Chakravarthy