It’s IPL season as everyone is busy finding the ideal playing XI for the conditions in the UAE. One team that has always adapted and selected the suitable playing XI for all conditions are the marquee Chennai Super Kings (CSK). However, this year the MS Dhoni-led side has a lot of thinking to do as they will be without their two seasoned performers Suresh Raina and Harbhajan Singh.
One of the most prominent voices in cricket Aakash Chopra recently picked his ideal playing XI for the CSK franchise. Chopra shared a video on Facebook and tried choosing the perfect team of CSK that will help them once again be successful in the upcoming IPL season.
Aakash Chopra picks ideal Chennai Super Kings XI
Meanwhile, Chopra picked some familiar faces in the line-up but also had some surprising inclusions in his team. Chopra thinks that the experienced Shane Watson should open the innings alongside underrated Ambati Rayudu. At the crucial number 3 and 4 spots, he trusts South African Faf du Plessis and Kedar Jadhav to perform well for CSK in IPL 2020.
Chopra stated, “At No.1, I am putting Shane Watson. He doesn’t play international cricket, which goes against him. We said the same thing for the last 2 years, but he went hard at the bowler’s”.
He continued, “Along with him will be Ambati Rayudu. The last twelve months have been eventful for him. He first announced his retirement and then unretired himself. Now we will have to see how he bats in the IPL.”
“At No.3, I am going with Faf du Plessis. I think this season will be very important for him, especially if you see from CSK’s point of view. “At No.4, you can keep MS Dhoni or Kedar Jadhav. I have gone for the latter”, said Chopra on Facebook.
Moreover in the middle order, Chopra went in with familiar faces, the likes of captain Dhoni, Ravindra Jadeja and CSK’s second-highest wicket-taker Dwayne Bravo. As far as the bowling is concerned Chopra picked a combination of 2 spinners and 2 fast bowlers in the line-up.
“So, we will have MS Dhoni at No.5. For MS Dhoni the simple rule should be that he should go into bat whenever 10-11 overs are done, irrespective of the batting position”.
“Because MS Dhoni likes to go with 7 bowling options, we will have to go with Ravindra Jadeja at No.6. At No.7, I have got Dwayne Bravo. He is coming in good form from the CPL. At No.8, it could be Mitchell Santner or Imran Tahir. Maybe we will have to go with Tahir else there would be two left-arm spinners”, Chopra further added.
He chose Imran Tahir and Piyush Chawla as his two spinners and finally Deepak Chahar and Shardul Thakur as his two speedsters in the CSK side for IPL 2020.
At No.9, I have got Piyush Chawla. At No.10, I have got Deepak Chahar. He bowls well with the new ball in the powerplay. At No.11, I have got Shardul Thakur,” Chopra concluded.