Chennai Super Kings skipper MS Dhoni won the toss and opted to field against Rajasthan Royals in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 match at the MA Chidambaram Stadium here on Wednesday.
MS Dhoni will become the first player to lead an IPL franchise for the 200th time and will be keen to mark this milestone with a victory which would earn a top four spot for CSK in the IPL table. On the other hand, Sanju Samson would like his team to be on the top of the chart with a win. CSK skipper MS Dhoni said the decision to bowl first was based on the condition of the pitch. "It will be slightly on the slower side. There could be dew around. Feels good [to lead for the 200th time]. The crowd is fantastic. The new stadium is like playing in Switzerland. We have seen cricket change. Feels good to have survived for so long and it's a format we have to keep evolving. Important to get rid of mistakes. A few changes - Santner and Pretorius make way for Moeen and Theekshana." RR skipper Sanju Samson said they will try to keep up the winning momentum. "We would have liked to bowl first too. We have started well but we need to continue the momentum. We are playing at Chepauk after a long time. We have experience and the youngsters to do that. It has always been a pleasure to come to Chepauk and play here. Boult misses out due to a small niggle and we have a couple of changes," he said. CSK (Playing XI): Devon Conway, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Ajinkya Rahane, Moeen Ali, Shivam Dube, Ravindra Jadeja, MS Dhoni(w/c), Sisanda Magala, Maheesh Theekshana, Tushar Deshpande, Akash Singh. RR (Playing XI): Yashasvi Jaiswal, Jos Buttler, Sanju Samson(w/c), Devdutt Padikkal, Shimron Hetmyer, Dhruv Jurel, Ravichandran Ashwin, Jason Holder, Kuldeep Sen, Sandeep Sharma, Yuzvendra Chahal. (ANI)
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