IPL 2018, CSK vs KKR: What can you expect from both teams ahead of their second match?

Chennai Super Kings will be playing for the first time in their fortress after the two-year hiatus. The Super Kings are back and the Whistle Podu army will be ready to welcome them home. The atmosphere in Chennai is upbeat with the return of CSK and the same was observed when thousands arrived to watch the practice sessions.

With both KKR and CSK coming into their second game with a victory in their kitty, we can expect another thriller from the teams who will be looking for their third IPL trophy.

Here are the things to expect from the game tonight.

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#1 Team changes in CSK

A forced replacement due to Jadhav's injury (Source: iplt20.com)

With Kedar Jadhav being ruled out of the IPL season, Chennai will have to change their team composition. The Super Kings will miss his hard-hitting abilities, but they'll look forward to building on without him after his winning runs in the first match.

With an empty slot in the middle order, Ambati Rayudu can move back to his preferred position. The opening duties will now most probably be taken up by the Chennai lad, Murali Vijay. Vijay has a point to prove and will be looking forward to the opportunity. Other than that, with no swinging conditions on offer Deepak Chahar may give way for Shardul Thakur.

David Willey who was signed as an injury replacement will most likely join the team within a week and may play a few matches, providing cover to the veteran Shane Watson.

#2 More responsibility being taken up by the CSK middle order

CSK would want to avoid another middle-order failure (Source: iplt20.com)

CSK were 84/6 at the end of 13 overs and were reduced to 118/8 by 16.3. If not for the dynamism of Dwayne Bravo, Chennai Super Kings were looking at a definite loss. With three of their retained players, Suresh Raina, MS Dhoni and Ravindra Jadeja, playing in the middle order, CSK fans and the team management would expect them to play with more responsibility and prevent another debacle with the bat in the middle overs.

With Rayudu most likely to be back in the middle order, Chennai will look to set things right and win their first home match after three years.

#3 An unchanged KKR side

DK will look to lead his side to victory again (Source: iplt20.com)

With the kind of firepower at the top and stability in the middle, KKR will be happy with their batting performance in the first match against RCB. KKR will hope that their youngsters, Nitish Rana and Rinku Singh will also have good outings with the bat.

KKR will look to continue with the winning squad. Vinay Kumar was expensive in his two overs, but being an experienced campaigner, he is more likely to retain his place in the squad.

#4 High impact of spinners

Spinners will play a key role (Source: iplt20.com)

The Chennai pitch is known for its spinning nature and the KKR spinner trio of Piyush Chawla, Kuldeep Yadav and Sunil Narine will look to exploit the conditions. Kolkata has two wrist-spinners in Chawla and Kuldeep, compared to Chennai's Imran Tahir. The duel between Kuldeep and Dhoni will be an interesting one to look forward to.

The Chennai squad was built around the fact that the Chepauk pitch has ample amount of turn. They have bought Harbhajan Singh, Karn Sharma, Imran Tahir and Mitchell Santer, who is out of the tournament due to an injury.

Ravindra Jadeja bowled just a single over in the season opener against Mumbai. In all likeliness, he is going to play a prominent role in this match along with Harbhajan and Tahir. There is also a slight possibility of Karn Sharma coming into the squad for Harbhajan, but it is sure there that there will be at least three spinners playing from each side.