NEW DELHI: Chennai Super Kings skipper Mahednra Singh Dhoni won the toss and decided to bat first in their Indian Premier League match against Kolkata Knight Riders at MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai on Sunday.
CSK, currently second on the points table with 15 points, have retained the same playing XI for the match that defeated Delhi Capitals by 27 runs on May 10.
KKR skipper Nitish Rana has brought in Vaibhav Arora in place of Anukul Roy in the playing XI.
"We'll bat first. We've been slightly uncertain about the wicket, and as the tournament has progressed the pitch gets slow. Throughout the years, we have told openers to assess the pitch quickly and find what's a good score. After 6-8 overs we need to revisit our score because the ball loses its shine. I think we have done really well, but fielding is one department where we need to step up. Can improve 5-10%. Same XI for this game," Dhoni said after winning the toss.
"Would have liked to bat first as well. The deck looks sticky, so I would have wanted to bat first and get our spinners in play. I think pressure was there in the first game as well, it is there now as well. Such is the IPL, we can't take it lightly. If any department falters, then 90% the result goes against you. So we need to be clinical in all departments. One change for us - Anukul Roy goes out, Vaibhav Arora comes in," Rana said.
Teams:
Kolkata Knight Riders: Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), Jason Roy, Nitish Rana (c), Andre Russell, Rinku Singh, Shardul Thakur, Sunil Narine, Vaibhav Arora, Harshit Rana, Suyash Sharma, Varun Chakaravarthy.
Chennai Super Kings: Ruturaj Gaikwad, Devon Conway, Ajinkya Rahane, Ambati Rayudu, Shivam Dube, Moeen Ali, Ravindra Jadeja, MS Dhoni(wk/c), Deepak Chahar, Tushar Deshpande, Maheesh Theekshana.
