The 18th match of the IPL 2020 will see Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) taking on the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in the second match of the double-header on Oct 4 in Dubai, in the evening. Both are placed in the last spots of the points table with one win from four matches each.
Both the teams have problems of their own and need some overhauling in the playing XIs and therefore Team COC is here with the Predicted Playing XIs for the KXIP v CSK match.
IPL 2020: Match 18, KXIP v CSK – Fantasy Cricket Tips, Possible Playing XIs, Pitch and Weather
KINGS XI PUNJAB (KXIP)
KXIP has played much better cricket than their record in IPL 2020 suggests. They lost the super over encounter to DC and then made a mammoth 223 runs against RR, just for them to chase it down in one of the greatest IPL matches ever.
Their major problem has been the form of their middle order, especially Karun Nair and Glenn Maxwell while Nicholas Pooran and Sarfaraz Khan have been batting too lower down the order. This might lead to them leaving Karun out of XI and sending Sarfaraz or Pooran at no.3 in a major shakedown of the team. Mandeep Singh is a possibility to come in for Nair to strengthen the batting and he is a gun fielder as well.
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Bowling-wise, they need to include Mujeeb Ur Rahman as they are wasting the likes of Jimmy Neesham at no.7. Mujeeb provides Rahul the opportunity to save the overs of either Shami or Cottrell for death overs. They will then have a much-balanced bowling attack with Gowtham and Maxwell doing the duty of the fifth bowler, while Shami, Cottrell, Bishnoi, and Mujeeb being their main bowlers.
CHENNAI SUPER KINGS (CSK)
CSK team has been struggling in the UAE heat and form of their players which has led to them being placed at the 8th spot in the IPL 2020 points table. Shane Watson, Kedar Jadhav, MS Dhoni himself are just some of the names struggling to get going from the start with the bat.
Faf du Plessis, Ambati Rayudu, Sam Curran, Piyush Chawla, and Deepak Chahar have been the most consistent performers in their team, and the inclusion of Dwayne Bravo has boosted the team a lot.
However, they might want to include Ruturaj in place of Jadhav, given that Jadhav’s bowling has not being used so far and Gaikwad’s young legs can aid in their fielding as well, which has been pedestrian thus far.
Sam Curran has brought in the much-needed balance to the team, while they would want Watson to get going as soon as possible, or carrying him in this season might prove to be detrimental. Though Piyush Chawla and Jadeja have done their job, the absence of Imran Tahir has proven to be another talking point this season, as he brought in much-needed control in middle overs.
If things don’t get better for them soon, CSK might need to take some unwanted but necessary measures when it comes to choosing their playing XI.
KXIP COC Predicted Playing XI:
KL Rahul (C&WK), Mayank Agarwal, Sarfaraz Khan, Nicholas Pooran, Glenn Maxwell, Mandeep Singh, K Gowtham, Shami, Cottrell, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Ravi Bishnoi
CSK COC Predicted Playing XI:
Faf du Plessis, Shane Watson, Ambati Rayudu, MS Dhoni (C&WK), Kedar Jadhav, Sam Curran, Dwayne Bravo, Ravindra Jadeja, Piyush Chawla, Deepak Chahar, Shardul Thakur
