The 21st match of the IPL 2020 will see a determined Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) taking on a resurgent Chennai Super Kings (CSK) at the Sheikh Zayed Cricket Stadium in Abu Dhabi. KKR is at 4th place in the points table, while CSK is 6th after a brilliant 10-wicket win over KXIP.
Both the teams have struggled with their batting orders, but have finally found the combination that works for them. But will they change something that’s not broken and make cosmetic changes for the upcoming clash? To answer that, Team COC presents to you the Predicted Playing XIs for the KKR v CSK match.
IPL 2020: Match 21, KKR v CSK – Fantasy Cricket Tips, Possible Playing XIs, Pitch and Weather
KOLKATA KNIGHT RIDERS (KKR)
KKR must have recognized by now that their experiment of opening with Sunil Narine is not working anymore and though they brought in a specialist opener In Rahul Tripathi in their previous game, in a head-scratching decision, decided to send him in at no.8, after Pat Cummins.
Tripathi played a valiant knock and should be opening with Gill. He has the strokeplay to take advantage of powerplays. They also need to tweak their batting order a bit with Morgan coming up and Karthik batting at 5 or 6 as a finisher, as he has failed to get going at no.4 spot.
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Bowling-wise, they have finally found a better combination with the 2018 U19 World Cup winner Mavi and Nagarkoti getting their rhythm going. Narine and Varun have done their part in the spin department and they have Russell and Rana to pitch in if needed.
KKR needs to win this match to gain momentum in the tournament while being wary of the CSK team which has found their mojo back.
CHENNAI SUPER KINGS (CSK)
After being criticized for losing three matches on a trot in the tournament, after a decade, CSK bounced back emphatically, crushing KXIP by 10 wickets as their experienced openers Shane Watson and Faf du Plessis did all the work.
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Watson’s bad run of form ended with a brilliant knock of 83*, while Du Plessis continued his wonderful run with the bat. With the inclusion of Dwayne Bravo, the CSK management has found the much-needed balance in the team. But the indifferent form of Kedar Jadhav continues to haunt them, while Dhoni has shown some hint of getting his mojo back.
In order to strike a balance, they had to sacrifice the services of Josh Hazlewood and brought in Shardul Thakur, who with Deepak Chahar has done a good job of keeping the runs down. Sam Curran has to be their best find for the tournament with both the bat and the ball, while Jadeja has gone from strength to strength.
KKR COC Predicted Playing XI:
Rahul Tripathi, Shubman Gill, Nitish Rana, Eoin Morgan, Dinesh Karthik (C&WK), Andre Russell, Sunil Narine, Pat Cummins, Shivam Mavi, Kamlesh Nagarkoti, Varun Chakravarthy
CSK COC Predicted Playing XI:
Faf du Plessis, Shane Watson, Ambati Rayudu, MS Dhoni, Kedar Jadhav, Ravindra Jadeja, Sam Curran, Dwayne Bravo, Piyush Chawla, Deepak Chahar, Shardul Thakur
