May 20: Rajathan Royals v Chennai Super Kings, 68th Match, Brabourne Stadium
Safe XI: Jos Buttler, Sanju Samson, Devon Conway (capt), Ruturaj Gaikwad, Devdutt Padikkal, Yashasvi Jaiswal (vice-capt), Moeen Ali, Yuzvendra Chahal, Trent Boult, Mukesh Choudhary, Matheesha Pathirana
Captain: Devon Conway
The New Zealand opener is expected to come back strongly after a couple of low scores at Wankhede Stadium recently. He has been spectacular for Super Kings, scoring 236 runs in six innings at a strike rate of 148.42. He has been striking particularly well in the middle overs - 142 runs at a strike rate of 179.74 - having been dismissed only once in this phase.
Vice-captain: Yashasvi Jaiswal
The Royals opener, who plays for Mumbai in domestic cricket, has been the top run-scorer for his side in two of his last three IPL games. Ever since he came back into the side, he has been showing great attacking intent. The last time he played against Super Kings, he scored his first half century of the season, 50 off 21 balls.
Hot Picks
Moeen Ali: Super Kings' No. 3 batter has not been at his ball-striking best this year, but he has been among the wickets. In the last four games, he has taken seven wickets at an average of 9.86 and economy rate of 5.83. Last season, he took 3 for 7 in three overs against the same opposition.
Yuzvendra Chahal: The purple cap holder has been enjoying his best returns from an IPL season this year taking 24 wickets in 13 games. Since 2019 against Super Kings, he has never gone wicketless.
Differential Picks
Matheesha Pathirana: The first ever uncapped Sri Lankan player to feature in IPL started with a bang, taking a wicket with his very first delivery. The 19-year old with a Lasith Malinga bowling action finished with 3.1-0-24-2 and earned high praise from MS Dhoni as well. He took seven wickets in four games in the U-19 World Cup in 2022.
Devdutt Padikkal: After opening the batting for a majority of his career, there were questions about his adapting to the new No. 4 assigned to him by Royals this season. But with scores of 39, 48, 31 and 41, he seems to be getting the hang of it.
High Risk XI: Sanju Samson (capt), N Jagadeesan, Devon Conway, Shimron Hetmyer, Shivam Dube, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Moeen Ali (vice-capt), R Ashwin, Prasidh Krishna, Trent Boult, Prashant Solanki