IPL 2019, CSK vs KXIP: Match Preview and team news 

The Indian Premier League is back on Saturday with a doubleheader set to begin the weekend. In the opening match of the day, Chennai Super Kings will host the Kings XI Punjab followed by another enthralling encounter between Sunrisers Hyderabad and Mumbai Indians. After tasting their first defeat of the campaign, CSK will square off against Punjab at the Chepauk Stadium tomorrow evening.

Chennai Super Kings started the season in flying fashion with three wins in as many matches. The Yellow juggernaut was halted by the mighty Mumbai Indians in their previous game when they lost by 37 runs at the Wankhede Stadium. The hosts would be eyeing to get back to winning ways heading into their third home game of the season. However, the batting woes continue to haunt Dhoni's men as they lack the firepower in the middle order. With the home crowd behind their back, CSK has the upper hand in this battle of Kings, but they can’t afford to take their opponents lightly.

Meanwhile, Kings XI Punjab is having a great time in the league so far. All their plans seem to be clicking and most importantly they are playing as a unit. The visitors would be hoping to upset the reigning champions in their den. Their previous victory against Delhi Capitals would have given them a world of confidence as they clinched it from the jaws of defeat. Punjab’s skipper Ravichandran Ashwin knows the conditions at the Chepauk very well and with a lot of his players in-form, he will want to breach his old team's fortress.

GAME DETAILS

Date: Saturday, April 06, 2019

Time: 04:00 PM IST

Venue: MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai

League: Indian Premier League

Live Telecast: Star Network

Online Streaming: Hotstar

Head to Head

Total Played: 20

CSK Won- 12

KXIP Won- 08

Last five encounters at Chepauk between the two sides

Chennai Super Kings – 03

Kings XI Punjab – 02

Team News

Chennai Super Kings

• Dwayne Bravo is ruled out of this fixture due to his hamstring injury.
• Mitchell Santner or Scott Kuggeleijn might replace him in the starting lineup.
• Mohit Sharma can miss out due to the slowness of the pitch
• Harbhajan Singh or leg spinner Karn Sharma can be brought in to replace the seamer.

Kings XI Punjab

• Chris Gayle is likely to make a comeback in this playing XI against CSK.
• Hardus Viljoen can make way for the Jamaican.
• The visitors have three quality spinners for Chepauk’s pitch.

SQUADS

Chennai Super Kings

Murali Vijay, Chaitanya Bishnoi, Shardul Thakur, Karn Sharma, Ambati Rayudu, Monu Kumar, Faf du Plessis, Deepak Chahar, Ravindra Jadeja, MS Dhoni(w/c), Kedar Jadhav, Suresh Raina, Dhruv Shorey, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Shane Watson, Dwayne Bravo, Mitchell Santner, N Jagadeesan, Harbhajan Singh, Imran Tahir, KM Asif, Sam Billings, Mohit Sharma, Scott Kuggeleijn

Kings XI Punjab

Murugan Ashwin, Sarfaraz Khan, Ravichandran Ashwin (c), Chris Gayle, Arshdeep Singh, Moises Henriques, Mayank Agarwal, Mandeep Singh, Mohammed Shami, Karun Nair, Lokesh Rahul, Ankit Rajpoot, Nicholas Pooran, Hardus Viljoen, Andrew Tye, Sam Curran, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Agnivesh Ayachi, Darshan Nalkande, Varun Chakravarthy, Simran Singh, David Miller, Harpreet Brar

Key Players

Chennai Super Kings

• Shane Watson
• Suresh Raina
• Imran Tahir

Kings XI Punjab

• KL Rahul
• David Miller
• Sam Curran

Probable Playing XI

Chennai Super Kings: Shane Watson, Faf du Plessis/ Sam Billings, Suresh Raina, MS Dhoni, Kedar Jadhav, Scott Kuggeleijn, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohit Sharma/Harbhajan Singh/Karn Sharma, Imran Tahir, Deepak Chahar, Shardul Thakur

Kings XI Punjab: KL Rahul, Chris Gayle, Mayank Agarwal, David Miller, Sarfaraz Khan, Mandeep Singh/Karun Nair, R Ashwin, M Ashwin, Mujeeb-ur-Rahman, Sam Curran, Mohd Shami.