Rajasthan Royals vs Chennai Super Kings, CSK Playing 11 vs RR (Predicted), IPL 2022, Match 68, RR vs CSK

Rajasthan Royals vs Chennai Super Kings, CSK Playing 11 vs RR (Predicted), IPL 2022, Match 68, RR vs CSK. Chennai Super Kings would look to bow out with their heads high as they take on the Rajasthan Royals in the 68th game of the Indian Premier League 2022 on 20th May 2022 at 7:30 in Brabourne Stadium, Mumbai.

The defending IPL 2021 champions have had a nightmarish season and come here with a big loss against the Gujarat Titans in their last game. Rajasthan on the other hand defeated the Lucknow Super Giants in the last game and has moved to the 2nd place on the points table.

Chennai Super Kings’ openers Devon Conway and Ruturaj Gaikwad haven’t been consistent, and this has hurt the side’s performance. They will have to set up a good show at the start of the innings. Moeen Ali, Narayan Jagadeesan, and Shivam Dube must play important knocks in the middle order as their failure to convert has been a big issue for the team. MS Dhoni and Mitchell Santner will have to do the heavy lifting towards the end of the innings.

Pacer Mukesh Choudhary has done well for the side this season and he must get them early wickets sharing the new ball with Simarjeet Singh. Mitchell Santner and Moeen Ali will enjoy these conditions and they must put pressure on Rajasthan’s powerful batting line-up. The side would also expect tight bowling from Matheesha Pathirana and Prashant Solanki in this game.

CSK on the other hand has already been knocked out of the competition and is languishing at the second last place with only 4 victories from 13 matches. The controversy around former skipper injured Ravindra Jadeja, followed by the Ambati Rayudu retirement U-turn, shows that all is not well for them.

Rajasthan Royals vs Chennai Super Kings, CSK Playing 11 vs RR (Predicted), IPL 2022, Match 68, RR vs CSK

As for team news, CSK has made several changes in their last game against Gujarat Titans with Robin Uthappa, Ambati Rayudu, Dwayne Bravo, and Maheesh Theekshana making way for Mitchell Santner, Narayan Jagadeesan, and a couple of debutants in Sri Lanka pacer Matheesha Pathirana and uncapped leg-spinner Prashant Solanki.

Ruturaj Gaikwad

Ruturaj Gaikwad had a stellar season last year. He finished the tournament as the highest run-getter (Orange Cap winner). In 16 IPL 2021 matches, he managed to score 635 runs at an average of 45.36 and a strike rate of close to 140.

He returned to form against Gujarat, scoring 73 runs after another disappointing start to his IPL 2022 campaign. He has amassed 366 runs averaging a decent 28.15 in 13 IPL 2022 games. He missed out on scoring a ton against SunRisers Hyderabad by a whisker as he was dismissed after scoring 99 runs. He had put on a 182 runs opening stand with Devon Conway. He has 3 fifties this season and is CSK’s leading run-getter.

Devon Conway

Devon Conway has played only 6 IPL 2022 games and amassed 236 runs averaging 47.2. Chennai Super Kings (CSK) opener Ruturaj Gaikwad played a sensational knock of 99 to keep his team’s hopes alive in the tournament against the Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH).

His opening partner Devon Conway also played his part, remaining unbeaten on 85 off just 55 balls. The opening stand between Ruturaj Gaikwad and Devon Conway (182) was also the highest in the history of the IPL for CSK.

The classy and stylish top-order batter, Devon Conway was bought by the CSK for his base price of INR 1 crore at the IPL 2022 Mega Auction. Born in South Africa, Devon Conway plays for New Zealand and is known for switching gears while batting and can also keep wickets if required.

Ambati Rayudu

CSK bought the right-handed batsman during the auction. Ambati Rayudu played for CSK in the last season too. He had scored 257 runs in 13 innings with 2 fifties in IPL 2021. Ambati Rayudu has scored 271 runs in 10 innings averaging a decent 27.1 in IPL 2022 but will try to improve upon his strike rate-124.31 so far this season. He is CSK’s 3rd leading run-getter after Ruturaj Gaikwad and Shivam Dube. Narayan Jagadeeshan played in place of him and scored an unbeaten 39 against Gujarat Titans.

Robin Uthappa

Robin Uthappa has played for various franchises since IPL 2008. Last season, the right-handed batsman scored 115 runs in 4 games for the Chennai Super Kings team with 1 fifty. He has scored 230 runs so far in 12 IPL 2022 games (11 innings) averaging 20.91 at a strike rate of 134.5 including 2 fifties. He will play in the middle order.

Moeen Ali

Moeen Ali has scored only 151 runs in 9 IPL 2022 games averaging 16.78 with the bat and taken 7 wickets averaging 19.57 with the ball with a best of 3/13 against Delhi.  A stylish batter and one of the sweetest timers of the ball, England’s Moeen Ali was retained by CSK for INR 8 crore ahead of the 2022 Mega Auction.

The England all-rounder had played 15 matches in IPL 2021 with 357 runs and 6 wickets to his name. A versatile left-handed batter and an aggressive off-break bowler, Moeen Ali was bought by Chennai Super Kings for INR 7 crores at the IPL 2021 Player Auction.

Shivam Dube

A powerful middle-order batter and a handy medium pacer, Shivam Dube was bought by CSK for INR 4 crore at the IPL 2022 mega auction. His base price was 50 lakhs. Shivam Dube is Chennai Super Kings’ 2nd leading run-scorer with 289 runs in 11 games so far averaging 28.9 including 2 fifties at a strike rate of 156.21.

He is however wicketless so far in IPL 2022. He will definitely play as the spin all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja has sustained an injury and is ruled out from the remaining games of IPL 2022.

MS Dhoni

MS Dhoni, who had earlier relinquished captaincy before his team’s opening fixture against KKR was handed the responsibility of captaining again after Ravindra Jadeja lost most of his matches as captain. MS Dhoni has scored 206 runs at a decent average of 34.33 so far in 13 IPL 2022 games.

MS Dhoni has struggled with the bat, scoring a combined total of 314 runs from 30 matches in the last two editions-IPL 2020 and IPL 2021. If his tally of 200 runs in IPL 2020 was disappointing, the following year was even worse as MS Dhoni aggregated only 114 runs.

Dwayne Bravo

Dwayne Bravo was picked during the IPL 2022 auction for Rs. 4.4 crores. In the last few seasons, Dwayne Bravo has played for Chennai Super Kings. Last season, he picked 14 wickets in 11 games for the team before IPL 2022.

Dwayne Bravo had broken Lasith Malinga’s record for most wickets in the history of IPL this season. He is CSK’s leading wicket-taker this season so far with 16 scalps in 10 games averaging 18.68. He now has 183 scalps-13 more than Lasith Malinga’s 170 scalps tally.

Simarjeet Singh

The tall, skiddy pacer who was a net bowler with the Delhi Capitals was bought by Chennai Super Kings for his base price of INR 20 lakhs at the IPL 2022 Mega Auction. He has played the last 5 IPL 2022 games for CSK against SRH, RCB, DC, MI, and GT and has picked 3 scalps averaging 40 with a best of 2/27 against Delhi.

Matheesha Prathirana

Matheesha Prathirana was roped in by the Chennai Super Kings in IPL 2022 as a player replacement for the injured Adam Milne. Born on 18 December 2002 in Kandy, Sri Lanka, the 19-year-old right-arm medium pacer and right-handed batter featured in Sri Lanka’s U19 World Cup squads in 2020 and 2022. He picked 2/24 in his debut game for CSK against Gujarat Titans.

Matheesha Pathirana, who has a bowling action that is extremely similar to that of famed bowler Lasith Malinga, made his IPL debut in CSK’s second last Indian Premier League 2022 game and took a wicket with his first ball. He finished with figures of 2 for 24 after 3.1 overs, dismissing Shubman Gill and Hardik Pandya.

Mukesh Choudhary

Mukesh Choudhary has registered 16 scalps to his name from 12 IPL 2022 outings averaging 23.93. He picked career-best figures of 4/46 against Gujarat Titans in a winning cause. Leading wicket-taker for Maharashtra in Vijay Hazare Trophy 2021-22, Mukesh Choudhary was bought by Chennai Super Kings for his base price of INR 20 lakhs at the IPL 2022 Mega Auction. He is Chennai Super Kings’ 2nd highest wicket-taker this season.