Chennai Super Kings captain MS Dhoni has opted to bowl first after winning the toss against Eoin Morgan-led Kolkata Knight Riders in Match 49 of IPL 2020 in Dubai on Thursday. The CSK skipper has decided to bring in Shane Watson, Lungi Ngidi and Karn Sharma for the game while KKR plays an extra batsman in Rinku Singh.
After winning the toss, Dhoni said: "We are bowling first, bit worried about the dew. We had some dew during practice, so it's better to bat second with dew around. We haven't been at our best, that's the reason we have been lagging behind. Quite a few changes, Faf, Tahir, Monu out. Watto, Lungi, Karn in. One injury and the rest are changes."
Meanwhile KKR skipper Morgan said Andre Russell isn't fit yet that's why misses out on a very important match for KKR, who have their back against the wall.
"One change for us, Rinku Singh in, Prasidh Krishna out. Andre Russell is not near fit yet so he misses out today. We can only control what we can do. We have had an up and down season. We are against a good CSK side. Myself and Brendon are all about freeing people," Morgan said.
Kolkata Knight Riders (Playing XI): Shubman Gill, Nitish Rana, Rahul Tripathi, Dinesh Karthik(w), Eoin Morgan(c), Rinku Singh, Sunil Narine, Pat Cummins, Lockie Ferguson, Kamlesh Nagarkoti, Varun Chakravarthy.
Chennai Super Kings (Playing XI): Ruturaj Gaikwad, Shane Watson, Ambati Rayudu, MS Dhoni(w/c), N Jagadeesan, Sam Curran, Ravindra Jadeja, Mitchell Santner, Karn Sharma, Deepak Chahar, Lungi Ngidi.
As per the pitch report, It's the same surface as the DC-SRH game; Grass on one side, bare on the other side. If you are put in to bat, forget the pitch, just play the ball. Go in with a positive mindset whether you win or lose the toss.
