File photo of CSK skipper MS Dhoni (left) with SRH counterpart David Warner.
Chennai Super Kings captain MS Dhoni has opted to bat first after winning the toss against Sunrisers Hyderabad in Match 29 of IPL 2020 in Dubai on Tuesday. Given how the pitch has been playing up in favour of the spinners in last few games, the skipper has decided to bring in Piyush Chawla for batsman Jagadeeshan, who played a decent knock in last game.
"We're batting first. Yes, for a change. Last few games we wanted to bat first, but never got the opportunity. It's a process and it's quicker if the guys buy into it, and follow the process. As I said, each game will have new problems. Today it will be about how we counter the shorter boundary one on side," Dhoni said after winning toss.
He further added: "Cricket is very close to life and it doesn't always go the way you want. It teaches you what you want to follow as a process. 2010 ended on a happy note but we can't just rely on that. One change - Chawla in for Jagadeesan. We thought about him (Tahir) but the combination isn't letting us."
SRH captain David Warner also said he would have preferred batting first on the surface and revealed he has brought in an extra spinner in Shahbaz Nadeem instead of Abhishek Sharma.
"Interested to see how the wicket is going to play. There is a bigger boundary on one side and need to make the batters play there. The easiest thing to do is to forget about it (the previous loss). I'm really enjoying it (captaincy) and having Kane also helps. Really enjoying the group that we have. One change - Nadeem in for Abhishek Sharma," he said.
Sunrisers Hyderabad (Playing XI): David Warner(c), Jonny Bairstow(w), Manish Pandey, Kane Williamson, Priyam Garg, Vijay Shankar, Rashid Khan, Shahbaz Nadeem, Sandeep Sharma, Khaleel Ahmed, T Natarajan.
Chennai Super Kings (Playing XI): Shane Watson, Faf du Plessis, Ambati Rayudu, MS Dhoni(w/c), Ravindra Jadeja, Sam Curran, Dwayne Bravo, Deepak Chahar, Shardul Thakur, Piyush Chawla, Karn Sharma.
Both sides are desperate to notch up wins in the tournament as they are reeling at the bottom half of the table. SRH is placed fifth with just three wins off seven games while it’s worse for Dhoni-led side, who lost five of its seven games and are seventh.
