Faf du Plessis: Incredible noise!! We will bowl first. I think the nature of pitches will turn, but 180-200 will be a nice target to change. It is quite a small ground and the ball travels, the surface is good and a little bit of dew could help. No changes in our starting XI but got some tricks up our sleeve for the impact player.
On the other hand, MS Dhoni, the captain of CSK, acknowledged that the toss mattered on this ground, as it was difficult to contain batters in the second innings due to the dew factor. He also mentioned that they would not be keeping a specific target in mind, but would keep re-evaluating their situation every 3-4 overs. Dhoni mentioned that they had one change, with Matheesha Pathirana coming in to replace the injured Daryn Magala. He added that while the injuries had not been ideal, all the players who had come in as replacements had performed well.
MS Dhoni: The toss does matter because this is a venue where it is difficult to contain batters in the second innings. And not to forget dew. I think what’s important is not looking ahead, maybe 180-200 is a par score but we need to keep re-evaluating every 3-4 overs on where we stand and what would be a good total to get to. That is a better way to approach, rather than keeping a total in mind. One change – Magala is injured and Pathirana comes in. The good think is all the players who have come in to replace guys have performed well. But these injuries haven’t been ideal, but that’s what happens because the IPL comes at the end of the cricket season.
The RCB’s playing XI included Virat Kohli, Faf du Plessis, Mahipal Lomror, Glenn Maxwell, Shahbaz Ahmed, Dinesh Karthik, Harshal Patel, Wanindu Hasaranga, Wayne Parnell, Vijaykumar Vyshak, and Mohammed Siraj.
The CSK’s playing XI included Devon Conway, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Ajinkya Rahane, Moeen Ali, Ambati Rayudu, Shivam Dube, Ravindra Jadeja, MS Dhoni, Matheesha Pathirana, Tushar Deshpande, and Maheesh Theekshana.