IPL 2018 | It will take all of MS Dhoni's shrewdness to breach Eden Gardens, claims Gavaskar

Chennai Super Kings, who convincingly won by 13 runs in their last match against DD, would be up next against KKR at the Eden Gardens on Thursday. CSK came back to winning ways after losing the home match against Mumbai Indians, in which they lost by 8 wickets. And today, both the teams would be looking to continue their winning run. While the conditions would be in the favor of the home team, it has been difficult to beat KKR at their home ground and that's why it would take some ‘shrewd’ thinking from Dhoni to win the match. 

“The Eden has been pretty much a fortress for the Knight Riders and it will take all of Dhoni's shrewdness to breach that,” Gavaskar wrote in his column for TOI.

“It is important for teams that lose to pick up the winning thread quickly and that's what the Chennai Super Kings did after losing to Mumbai Indians. They came back with a spirited display trying out a new opening batting combination and going on to win the match with ease against Delhi Daredevils."

Ambati Rayudu has been a vital cog in the CSK batting lineup this year as he has given them flying starts when he opened the innings and has held the innings together when batted down the order. Having scored 370 runs in 8 matches at an impressive average of just over 46, Rayudu has brought his top game this season. Gavaskar was impressed by the flexibility Rayudu possessed and thought that he has a great understanding of the game. Gavaskar mentioned that Rayudu has provided the stability that Chennai require from one end, making other batsmen playing around him, which makes Chennai much more dangerous side.   

“Batting down the order made no difference to Ambati Rayudu, who is showing why he is such a good player in the limited overs format. He has the ability to know when to accelerate and when to knock the ball around for ones and twos,” wrote Gavaskar. “Moreover, his determination to stay the length of the innings means that Chennai has one well set batsman at the end too and that makes the last few overs quite profitable. With Dhoni being in incredible hitting form, Chennai are confident of chasing down any score that the opposition may put up.”

Suresh Raina and Shane Watson have been up to the task whenever their team have needed them. Gavaskar felt that both the batsmen add experience and strength to the Chennai batting lineup. Complementing SRH, Gavaskar pointed out that they have been the only side that has got their plans right and has not looked vulnerable in the power-play and slog overs.   

“Suresh Raina and Shane Watson also give the Chennai batting experience and strength as both can power the ball away any time. The only area where Chennai are a bit uncertain like all other teams with the exception of Sunrisers Hyderabad, is the bowling especially in the power play and the slog overs,” he wrote. “Sunrisers have been quite exceptional in this regard where their bowlers have defended small totals and eventually won the match for their teams with a healthy margin too.”

KKR have not been quite consistent this season. Having won 4 out of 8 matches they have played so far, they are in the fourth spot on the points table. Gavaskar felt that KKR has settled down quite nicely, after few road bumps in their journey and pointed out that Lynn back in form would be good news for them. Lynn scored a careful 62 off 52 balls in the last match against RCB and won the game for his team.  

“The Kolkata Knight Riders have a balanced attack and that doesn't make it easy for the big hitters as Karthik is cleverly using the mix of pace and spin. After getting his bowling priorities wrong in the first couple of games, the KKR skipper has settled down quite nicely and his bowling changes and field placements can't be faulted. Their batting too is just gathering steam with Chris Lynn spending quality time out in the middle in their win over the Royal Challengers,” he wrote. 

Appreciating Shubhman Gill, who finally seems to have found his form scoring 37 against DD, Gavaskar stated that he has provided the depth that KKR and has batted sensibly. 

“Having young Shubman Gill down the order is also proving to be a good move as the youngster is showing great adaptability and awareness of the situation. If teams find out Narine with short pitched bowling then the youngster is ready to step in and open the batting and show his skills there too,” Gavaskar wrote.

Predict IPL & WIN CASH! Can you predict the Game?

Join & Play NOW! Click here here to download Nostra Pro & get ₹20 Joining Bonus!

Win cash daily by predicting the right result on Nostragamus. Click here to download the game on Android! To know more, visit Nostragamus.in