Dubai: Punjab Kings captain KL Rahul won the toss and opted to field against Chennai Super Kings in the 53rd match of the IPL 2021 at Dubai International Cricket Stadium, here Thursday.
Punjab made one change in their team with all-rounder Chris Jordan coming in for Nicholas Pooran.
“… We are bowling first as we can have a look at the permutations and combinations to look at. The middle order has tried their best and hasn’t delivered at times. They are all quality players and performed for their respective teams,” said Rahul at the toss.
On the other hand, Mahendra Singh Dhoni-led CSK didn’t make any change in their playing XI for this match.
“It is tough to maintain fitness. Whenever we came back for the second leg, we knew we would have back to back games. We had three games in five days. No, we are playing with the same XI. The heat is a factor. The wicket looks good,” said Dhoni.
Talking about his availability as a player for CSK next season, the former Indian captain said, “You will see me in yellow but whether I will be playing for CSK, I don’t know. There will be a lot of uncertainties. We will wait for it to happen as there will be two new teams that will be added. There will be new retention policies as well.”
Playing XI:
Chennai Super Kings: Ruturaj Gaikwad, Faf du Plessis, Robin Uthappa, Moeen Ali, Ambati Rayudu, MS Dhoni(w/c), Ravindra Jadeja, Dwayne Bravo, Shardul Thakur, Deepak Chahar, Josh Hazlewood
Punjab Kings : KL Rahul(w/c), Mayank Agarwal, Aiden Markram, Sarfaraz Khan, Shahrukh Khan, Moises Henriques, Chris Jordan, Harpreet Brar, Mohammed Shami, Ravi Bishnoi, Arshdeep Singh