IPL 2018, Match 17: CSK vs RR - Preview, head-to-head, pitch report & key stats

The two-time IPL champions, Chennai Super Kings, will lock horns with the inaugural IPL champions, Rajasthan Royals, for the 17th match of this IPL season.

Chennai Super Kings will be hoping that skipper MS Dhoni can disregard his back problems as the legendary batsman was back at his imperious best in his previous encounter against KXIP. They will, however, indeed be without star batsman Suresh Raina and proceed with Murali Vijay in his place.

Meanwhile, Rajasthan Royals will trust that their costly lineup of Ben Stokes, Jos Buttler, D'Arcy Short and Jaydev Unadkat can fire in the crucial match as they have failed to set the tournament alight in the initial few rounds.

Chennai Super Kings vs Rajasthan Royals, Details

Match Date: 20 April 2018, Friday

Match Timing: 20:00 IST, 14:30 GMT

Match Venue: Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium, Pune, India

Expected Crowd Turnout: The game is expected to be a house-full with an expected crowd turnout of 37,400.

Weather

The humidity levels will click around 35% with no forecast of rain. Winds will be flowing from the west at a speed of 11 km/hr. Thus, it is expected to be a breezy evening in Pune. The sky will be clear with an expected cloud cover of 31%.

Head-to-head

CSK 11 - RR 7. CSK enjoy a good edge over RR with eleven wins under their belt in comparison to seven wins for RR.

Chennai Super Kings (CSK) IPL 2018 Squad:

CSK would be hoping to get back to their winning ways

MS Dhoni (c & wk), Shane Watson, Ambati Rayudu, Sam Billings, Ravindra Jadeja, Dwayne Bravo, Deepak Chahar, Harbhajan Singh, Imran Tahir, Shardul Thakur, Faf du Plessis, KM Asif, Kanishk Seth, Dhruv Shorey, Murali Vijay, Mark Wood, Kshitiz Sharma, Monu Kumar, Chaitanya Bishnoi, Karn Sharma, N Jagadeesan, and David Willey.

Rajasthan Royals (RR) IPL 2018 Squad:

RR would be looking forward to gaining their momentum back

Ben Stokes, Stuart Binny, Sanju Samson, Jos Buttler (WK), Rahul Tripathi, D Arcy Short, Krishnappa Gowtham, Jofra Archer, Dhawal Kulkarni, Jaydev Unadkat, Ankit Sharma, Anureet Singh, Ish Sodhi, Shreyas Gopal, Prashant Chopra, Sudhesan Midhun, Ben Laughlin, Mahipal Lomror, Aryaman Birla, Jatin Saxena, Dushmantha Chameera, Ajinkya Rahane (C), and Heinrich Klassen.

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All the stats and numbers to look out ahead of the match No. 17 between CSK and RR:

2 – Shane Watson requires two more wickets to surpass Dale Steyn on the list of most IPL wickets. Taking these two wickets, Shane Watson will become the thirteenth highest wicket-taker in the history of IPL.

3 – MS Dhoni needs to effect three more stumpings to surpass Robin Uthappa on the list of most IPL stumpings.

3 – Harbhajan Singh needs three more wickets to surpass Piyush Chawla on the list most wickets in the history of IPL. Scalping these three wickets, Harbhajan Singh will become the third highest wicket-taker in the history of IPL.

5 – MS Dhoni needs to hit five more sixes to surpass AB de Villiers on the list of most IPL sixes. Hitting these five sixes, Dhoni will acquire the fifth position on the list of most IPL sixes.

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