How the Men in Yellow may lineup in the tournament opener

#2 Middle order

Raina is the highest run-getter in IPL history

Suresh Raina is arguably the most successful batsman in IPL history. CSK retained him in the IPL pre-auction. Raina has played 161 games so far in IPL and has scored 4540 runs, most by any player in the history of the game. At an average of 34 and a strike rate of 139, Raina is one of the devastating players in T20 Cricket. In the past, he was exceptional for CSK at no.3 and will retain his spot against Mumbai Indian on Saturday.

MS Dhoni is back. He will lead the CSK team and according to their coach Stephen Fleming, he is set for a promotion in the batting order. MS Dhoni was always a floater in the CSK lineup and comes in to bat based on the situation of the game. However, things could change this season. Dhoni at no.4 is an exciting option for CSK. He will get enough time to settle and then unleash in the final overs. Wankhede is too small when he gets going.

Kedar Jadhav is Chennai’s costliest buys in the IPL 2018 auction. Though he is not a permanent fixture in the Indian limited overs set up, he has played some cracking innings for India in ODI’s. He had a decent IPL 2017 but was out of form for India. On his day, Jadhav can destroy any bowling attack and will play a key role for CSK in the middle order. His six hitting abilities will definitely help CSK in the middle overs. His off-spin bowling could prove handy against the Mumbai Indians left-handed batsmen.