It is time for that battle between two teams who haven’t shared the greatest history in the past. We all know that both Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals were suspended for wrongdoing from 2016 to 2017. Where One team made the greatest comeback ever in 2018 by winning the title whereas another team is still trying to find its ground with respect to qualifying for the playoffs.
Rajasthan Royals being led by Ajinkya Rahane in the previous two editions have performed poorly as they’ve failed to qualify for the playoffs on both occasions. Now this year they have Steve Smith as their full-time skipper who will look to bring the best out of his side this season. In their first match of the season, they take on the Thala’s side Chennai Super Kings at the iconic Sharjah Cricket Stadium.
With the match all set to involve some marquee players, let’s take a close look at the players we all should have eyes on in the game.
Let’s take a look at the 5 players to watch out for in the RR vs CSK game:
Ambati Rayudu
Well after the first game vs Mumbai Indians, how could anyone miss out talking about Ambati Rayudu. The batsmen came in at 4 during a crucial time and ended up scoring a match-winning knock to help CSK sail through for a win. As a player, life has been hard on Rayudu since last 15-20 months. After being dropped from the 2019 World Cup squad he went on to retire from the game.
But now, here he is to prove a point that he’s here to stay and someone like him can never be counted out. He has played the role of a finisher for the CSK franchise in the last past and is now batting in the middle order this season.
With the match to be played at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium, Rayudu will enjoy the freedom of those short boundaries.
David Miller
Killer Miller in the IPL is known for his ability to score quick runs at a very healthy strike-rate. He was associated with the Kings XI Punjab franchise and was instrumental in finishing off multiple matches for the Punjab based franchise.
His most memorable innings came in 2013 season when he smashed 101* against RCB. Miller’s 8 year-long association with the franchise in 2019 as they decided not to retain him. His poor show in the 2019 season where he averaged just 26 led to his ouster from the Kings franchise.
In the 2020 IPL auction, he was picked by RR for $105,000. It is expected that he will bat at 4-5 depending on the situation. We might also see him playing the role of a finisher if needed as he possesses the intent to score quickly.
Sanju Samson
The youngster from Kerala is another player who has the potential to make it big in the international circuit. He’s coming into this tournament as an India player since he made his T20 debut for India earlier this year. Though he hasn’t really glorified himself yet in the blue jersey, many consider him as the future of Indian Cricket.
Which is why all our eyes should be on Sanju Samson in today’s game as he’s one player we all should watch out for. It is expected that Samson would bat at 4-5 for the Rajasthan side. Since the more runs he scores and more games he finishes off for the franchise, the more his chances to be a long term India player would increase.
Sam Curran
The all-rounder from England has been growing sensation since a couple of years. After representing the Kings XI Punjab franchise last year, He was bought by the Chennai Super Kings franchise this season. He played an important for his side in the opening encounter vs Mumbai Indians bowling those overs upfront in addition to him scoring a quickfire 18 to help CSK chase down the target set by Mumbai Indians.
As Dhoni had entrusted Sam Curran in the previous game by sending the latter ahead of himself. We might see it repeat again today as Curran being the lone left-handed batsmen in the side, Dhoni might just push him further up the order to take full advantage of Curran’s abilities as a batsman.
Shreyas Gopal
The Karnataka born leggie is another player who has been hitting the headlines ever since he joined the Rajasthan Royals side. He was a part of the Mumbai Indians side for as long as three years but failed to get consistent opportunities due to presence of Harbhajan Singh. But ever since Gopal started turning up for the Royals in the IPL, we have seen him evolve drastically as a player.
From bowling those crucial powerplay overs to picking wickets at important stages, Gopal has made sure we have our eyes on him with his bowling performance. He was bought for a mere 20 lakh rupees in the 2018 IPL Auction but has been putting up performances rated much higher than the price they have acquired him for.
As a result, Shreyas Gopal will be among the 5 players watch out for in the CSK vs RR game.