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Speaking ahead of his side's high-octane clash against Chennai Super Kings (CSK), Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) batting coach and mentor Dinesh Karthik has said he is extremely excited for the match after seeing his players and their approach during the practice sessions.
In one of the biggest matches of the IPL season, five-time champions CSK and RCB, will meet in a Southern Derby at Chepauk Stadium on Thursday. In their last match, RCB sent CSK packing out of the competition on the basis of net-run-rate and secured the playoffs spot after winning six matches on the bounce. Both teams have played each other 33 times, with CSK winning 21, RCB winning just 11 and one match ending in no result. RCB has just one win at Chepauk Stadium, which dates back to the inaugural IPL back in 2008. "I honestly feel that the way we are structuring our team, the way we are playing, and the way we intend to play makes this game very exciting for us. As a team, we are extremely excited and confident of our abilities," Karthik said, according to an RCB release. "In the first few games, we showed glimpses of what we are capable of, and our goal is to keep raising the bar, regardless of the venue. It is still early in the tournament, and while past stats exist, this is a fresh group of players who are hungry and eager to make an impact. Being part of this setup as a mentor, watching the players in practice, and seeing their approach has made it an exciting build-up for me personally. It is two strong teams going head-to-head, and I cannot wait for the game to begin," he added. This will be Karthik's first Southern Derby as a mentor. In the previous match between both sides, which propelled RCB to playoffs, he played a cameo of 14 in six balls, with a four and six. Squads: Chennai Super Kings Squad: Rachin Ravindra, Ruturaj Gaikwad(c), Rahul Tripathi, Deepak Hooda, Shivam Dube, Sam Curran, Ravindra Jadeja, MS Dhoni(w), Ravichandran Ashwin, Noor Ahmad, Nathan Ellis, Khaleel Ahmed, Vijay Shankar, Jamie Overton, Shreyas Gopal, Devon Conway, Kamlesh Nagarkoti, Mukesh Choudhary, Anshul Kamboj, Matheesha Pathirana, Gurjapneet Singh, Shaik Rasheed, Ramakrishna Ghosh, Andre Siddarth C, Vansh Bedi Royal Challengers Bengaluru Squad: Philip Salt, Virat Kohli, Devdutt Padikkal, Rajat Patidar(c), Liam Livingstone, Jitesh Sharma(w), Tim David, Krunal Pandya, Rasikh Dar Salam, Suyash Sharma, Josh Hazlewood, Yash Dayal, Abhinandan Singh, Manoj Bhandage, Romario Shepherd, Swapnil Singh, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Lungi Ngidi, Nuwan Thushara, Jacob Bethell, Mohit Rathee, Swastik Chikara. (ANI)
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