Mumbai, April 16: Chennai Super Kings skipper MS Dhoni won the toss and elected to bowl first against Punjab Kings here at the Wankhede Stadium during their IPL 2021 match on Friday (April 16).
Interestingly, both the teams went with the same Playing 11 from their previous matches.
Head to head to record suggests that CSK have an advantage over PBKS with a 14-9 lead but past record holds for nothing in this format and we might have a big, exciting contest.
Dhoni said after the toss: "We will bowl first. We will get hit off good deliveries but it is important to assess as a bowler. Cricket is a mental game and adaptability is a key factor. Overall, it's a mental game than the physical aspect. Looks a bit tacky and a bit more grass on the pitch. Bit of dew is there but settles down a bit and in the second innings as well, the first few overs are really crucial. We are playing the same team."
Punjab captain KL Rahul said: "We did well in the last game and we should try and assess the pitch and put some runs on the board. Pitch looks good. When any set batter is batting it is tough to control and I try to encourage my bowlers and even if they go for runs it's okay. Supporting them and backing them is really important. No changes for us and we are playing the same team."
There will also be some personal milestones approaching as Suresh Raina is close to getting 500 IPL boundaries. This is also 200th IPL match of Dhoni for CSK and he led in 199 of them.
Playing 11s: Punjab Kings: KL Rahul(w/c), Mayank Agarwal, Chris Gayle, Deepak Hooda, Nicholas Pooran, Shahrukh Khan, Jhye Richardson, Murugan Ashwin, Riley Meredith, Mohammed Shami, Arshdeep Singh
Chennai Super Kings: Ruturaj Gaikwad, Faf du Plessis, Suresh Raina, Moeen Ali, Ambati Rayudu, MS Dhoni(w/c), Ravindra Jadeja, Sam Curran, Dwayne Bravo, Shardul Thakur, Deepak Chahar