On a Super Sunday, for the 38th match of the season, Chennai Super Kings met Kolkata Knight Riders in Abu Dhabi. While KKR went unchanged for this contest, CSK made one change to their line-up from their last game against Royal Challengers Bangalore. Sam Curran came in for Dwayne Bravo for the Men in Yellow.
Bravo has been outstanding since the UAE leg began. In the two matches so far, he played key roles in CSK’s victories. Against Mumbai Indians, he scored a useful 23 off just 8 balls. With the ball, he went on to bag three wickets. He carried that form against RCB and managed to pick three wickets again.
Usually, MS Dhoni doesn’t like to tinker with the winning combination. He tends to go in with the same XI for a number of games if the balance is giving the correct results. Therefore, it must have been a difficult decision to leave out Bravo in his current form. But Dhoni, at the toss, mentioned that it’s a part of the workload management of the 37-year-old.
The Caribbean all-rounder had a niggle while coming in from the Caribbean Premier League. CSK have almost qualified for the playoffs having won seven out of nine matches. So, they could afford going in without their ace all-rounder. He would be brought back at the latter stage for the crucial matches.
Sam Curran is a like for like replacement. The English all-rounder has done well in the past for the franchise, especially against KKR. However, he wasn’t at his best in the Tests on India’s recent tour of England. But the team being in a comfortable situation provides him the cushion to get back in form.
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