Punjab Kings’ chance to hit CSK for a six

Match detailsDharamsala, 1530 IST (1000 GMT)Chennai Super Kings

Tushar Deshpande, who missed the previous game with flu, is expected to be available, but with Deepak Chahar injured and Mustafizur Rahaman having gone back to Bangladesh for national duty, CSK will have to rejig their bowling combination. One of Maheesh Theekshana and Mitchell Santner is likely to come in, while Mukesh Choudhary could get his second game of the season. Ajinkya Rahane and Choudhary could be their options for Impact Player.

Probable XII 1 Ajinkya Rahane, 2 Ruturaj Gaikwad (capt), 3 Daryl Mitchell, 4 Shivam Dube, 5 Moeen Ali, 6 Ravindra Jadeja, 7 MS Dhoni (wk), 8 Shardul Thakur, 9 Tushar Deshpande, 10 Maheesh Theekshana, 11 Matheesha Pathirana, 12 Mukesh Choudhary

In the spotlight – Harpreet Brar and Shivam Dube

Harpreet Brar has only six wickets in ten games, but his economy rate has been an excellent 7.21. Among those who have bowled at least 100 balls this season, only Jasprit Bumrah (6.25), Sunil Narine (6.72) and Krunal Pandya (7.20) have better economy rates. When PBKS faced CSK earlier in the week, Brar was the Player of the Match for his figures of 2 for 17, which included dismissing Shivam Dube for a first-ball duck.

That Shivam Dube wicket was crucial because he has been CSK’s engine room in the middle overs. In all, he has 350 runs at an average of 50.00 and a strike rate of 171.56 this season; Gaikwad is the only other CSK batter to cross 200. Given both PBKS spinners – Brar and Rahul Chahar – turn the ball into Dube, if gets set, it may not be easy to stop him.

Stats that matter

• Dhoni has a strike rate of 45.45 against Rabada (10 runs off 22 balls, one dismissal), 55.88 against Rahul Chahar (19 off 34, two dismissals) and 78.12 against Harshal Patel (25 off 32, two dismissals). He has fared much better against Sam Curran and Arshdeep Singh, taking 38 off 17 balls against Curran and 20 off 14 balls against Arshdeep. Neither bowler has been able to dismiss him yet.
• Daryl Mitchell has taken Arshdeep for 43 runs in 19 balls while getting out only once.
• Rabada has kept Gaikwad quiet: 63 runs off 59 balls, three dismissals. Arshdeep, too, has a good record against Gaikwad: 55 runs off 44 balls, three dismissals.
• Bairstow has a strike rate of 185.71 against Moeen Ali (39 runs off 21 balls, no dismissal) and 170.00 against Shardul Thakur (51 off 30, one dismissal). But he has found it difficult to score against Ravindra Jadeja: 36 off 31 at a strike rate of 116.12 (one dismissal).

Pitch and conditions

Dharamsala has hosted only two T20s in the last seven years and both have been high-scoring – well, as per pre-IPL 2024 standards. The last time PBKS played here, in 2023, Rossouw was in the opposition and scored 82 not out off 37 balls as Delhi Capitals posted 213 for 2 and won by 15 runs. It’s an afternoon game, and the temperature is expected to be around 27°C.