Chennai Super Kings (CSK) are due to host Rajasthan Royals (RR) in Match 17 of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 at MA Chidambaram Stadium on Wednesday (April 12).
The game will mark the legendary MS Dhoni’s 200th as captain of CSK in the IPL. On the eve of the match, CSK’s premier all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja said that the team is keen to gift Dhoni a victory in his landmark match.
“What can I say. He is a legend of not only CSK, he is a legend of Indian cricket. I would like to wish him good luck. Hopefully, we will win the game tomorrow and give it as a gift to him on his 200th match as captain. Hope to continue the momentum of how we have played in the last two games,” Jadeja said at the pre-match press conference.
Both the teams have quality spinners in their ranks and Jadeja feels as a batting unit “we have to apply ourselves”.
“Yeah, you can say that. When you come to Chennai you are always hoping that spinners will do the job for you. They have quality spinners, we also have quality spinners. It will be a good battle. As a batting unit, we have to apply ourselves and pick those areas where we can hit boundaries. That will be challenging. As a batsman it is not going to be that easy. Batters need to capitalise and pick those gaps,” he stated.
Asked what he felt was a safe total, Jadeja said, “Nowadays nothing is safe. Because they are chasing down 212. We have to be very disciplined and have to read the conditions very well.”
The Super Kings are facing injury concerns in the ongoing IPL, with England all-rounders Ben Stokes and Moeen Ali missing the previous game against Mumbai Indians. Pacer Deepak Chahar also picked up a hamstring injury in the first over and didn’t bowl afterwards.
Proving updates on the injury of Stokes, Moeen and Chahar, Jadeja said: “I think Moeen Ali is fine, within a day or two, he will be fine. But I don’t know about Deepak. I have not met Deepak, I am not sure what injury he had. Ben also will be fine in 4-5 days, is what I feel. But not sure how much time he will take.”
Jadeja acknowledged that the Royals have a lot of firepower in their batting unit and they would come up with plans to combat them.
“Every team has firepower, not only Rajasthan. We need to understand where we can keep them quiet. Definitely we will come up with some plan and bowl accordingly."
