Chennai Super Kings has started off the Indian Premier League with a bang this year and will be facing the Rajasthan Royals (RR) in its upcoming match in Sharjah on Tuesday. With RR's captain Steve Smith who suffered a concussion set to return to the field, the match is likely to be a heated one.
A quick look at both teams' past clashes with each other however shows that it is CSK that holds an edge when it comes down to the line. The team captained by former Indian skipper MS Dhoni has won 14 of 21 matches between the two sides, which is double the number that RR has won.
Last season alone, CSK beat RR in both the matches they went head to head. Not surprising, considering that CSK has been a formidable team with three IPL titles to its name while RR has won just once. In 2019, the teams played matches 12 and 25 against each other. In the first game, CSK scored 175 while RR scored 167 in 20 overs and the Chennai franchise won by 8 runs.
In the second match, RR scored 151 in 20 overs while CSK managed to score 155 with 4 wickets to spare.
This time however, RR will have to make calculated decisions before they set out to play. With two heavyweights- Jose Butler and Ben Stokes ruled out for this game, the line up will see some major changes as compared to the previous season. But this may also give space for players such as Robin Uthappa and Yashasvi Jaiswal to take centrestage. Jaiswal, who played under 19 cricket for India, is expected to give a riveting performance in his first IPL outing.
According to RR's media release, captain Steve Smith said,"The guys have been here for a month now, and from all reports, the training's been magnificent. It's been good to catch up with both the old and the new Royals, we're in a good place and have got an outstanding squad this year, really strong, and we're ready to get going. Chennai and Mumbai both have been two solid teams for a long time now. We obviously watched a bit of the game the other night, the Super Kings played really well to get over the line in the end. Hopefully, we can put on a good show and get our campaign off to a good start."