IPL 2020, KXIP vs CSK preview: Pressure on for KL Rahul and MS Dhoni as teams eye much-needed win

It will be a clash between the bottom two teams when Kings XI Punjab and Chennai Super Kings go head-to-head in the Indian Premier League at the Dubai International Stadium on Sunday. Both teams have lost three of their first four matches and will be keen to get another win.

Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s CSK are last on the points table at the moment and it’s definitely not a spot they’re used to occupying. The team has lost three matches in a row for the first time since IPL 2014.

Not a lot has worked for them so far in the tournament. Playing after a week’s break on Friday, they even made three changes to their playing XI against Sunrisers Hyderabad but those did not pay off either.

A misfiring top-order, apart from Faf du Plessis to an extent, combined with inadequate run-flow in the middle overs and the habit of leaving way too much for the end, proved costly for the men in yellow in the three consecutive defeats.

They have it in them to turn it around but everything – fielding, bowling and batting – has to come together much better.

“The last time we lost three matches in a row was a long time ago. We need to get a lot of things right. It is the professionalism. We need to take our catches, not bowl no-balls. Those are the controllables and may be we are getting too relaxed,” Dhoni said after the last defeat. “We have been a bit too relaxed at times.”

Dhoni has batted under pressure in the initial games, with the expectations high since he’s making a comeback. But by the time he goes after the bowling, the asking rate tends to be too high. If the team can manage enough runs early in the innings, it could give a cushion to the skipper.

But the job would be easier said than done since they are up against a side which has been batting well, though results have not exactly gone in their favour.

KXIP skipper KL Rahul and his opening partner Mayank Agarwal have been in top form.

But despite scoring in excess of 200 twice, the Punjab side lost those matches because of poor bowling performances. Mohammed Shami, Sheldon Cottrell and young Ravi Bishnoi have impressed in patches but Kings XI’s bowling unit needs to fire collectively.

With both teams carrying a 1-3 record into this match, a defeat on Sunday is likely to deal a severe blow to their playoff hopes.

Squads

Match starts at 7.30 pm IST and will be live on Star Sports network / Disney+ Hotstar

(With PTI and iplt20 inputs)