In IPL 2023 match today, Dhoni's CSK has an edge over Sanju Samson's Rajasthan Royals

Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and Rajasthan Royals (RR) will clash in the 17th match of IPL 2023 at the MA Chidambaram stadium on April 12, 2023.

Both the sides have been playing decent cricket in the past 3 matches, losing only one fixture. While CSK lost the opening match against Gujarat Titans, bouncing back against Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) and then against arch-rivals Mumbai Indians, RR are coming fresh after beating Delhi Capitals and they only lost their second match to Punjab Kings at the Barsapara stadium in Guwahati.

Head to head stats: Both the teams have squared off against each other in 27 matches. Out of these, 15 matches have been won by CSK while 12 matches were won by RR.

Why CSK has better chances against RR

Though Rajasthan Royals is considerably a strong team and can be a tricky side for the hosts; still, Dhoni’s CSK are favourites to win this match.

The first reason is because Chepauk is CSK’s forte, where the men in yellow have won 42 out of 61 fixtures, losing only 18. Second, CSK has been dominating RR over the past few years and this year too, owing to the game CSK is playing, it looks like RR will have a hard time beating Chennai at home.

Ajinkya Rahane's fast-paced innings: In the last match, Ajinkya Rahane's knock of 61 off 27 balls -- which included 3 sixes and 7 fours -- was a sight to behold. It would be a little tough to recall such a game from Rahane, where his strike-rate was 225.93.

If Rahane plays the match today, CSK will have an additional hitter in the side as an opener who can fetch a good number of runs in the powerplay.

Rahane gets an equal support from in-form Ruturaj Gaikwad, who arrived in style in the first match against Gujarat, slamming 92 off 50 balls. 

Jadeja and Santer good options in bowling: Since the Chepuak pitch offers turn to spinners, all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja and Mitchell Santer will prove helpful to the team.

However, the pace attack of CSK is still below par from what it used to be. Tushar Deshpande and Deepak Chahar haven’t been able to dominate the batters while team’s star purchase, Ben Stokes, is expected to be out of the game today too due to fitness issues.

The key players for Rajasthan

In the batting line-up, Yashasvi Jaiswal and Jos Buttler are emerging as the best opening pair in the tournament. The two started their tournament with half-centuries in the first match against Sunrisers Hyderabad on April 2, and then in the last match against Delhi, both stood for partnership of 98 runs. 

Jaiswal is a big buy for RR at Rs 4 crore, while Jos Buttler has been roped in at a mammoth price of Rs 10 crore. 

Another advantage RR will have in the match is the pair of Yuzvendra Chahal and Ravichandra Ashwin, as a counter to Jadeja and Santer. 

Ashwin also has a very good record in Chepauk stadium and with the wicket slightly offering turn, the off-spinner has be a real worry for CSK batters. 

Pitch report

The MA Chidambaram pitch is supposedly a batting pitch and the bowlers might have a hard time. However, the pitch offers turn to spinners in the second innings. 

Teams winning the toss would opt to bat first as the stats say that the teams batting first have won a total of 41 games here and the chasing side has won only 26. 

But the game can go either ways, as the chasing team now has the option of adding an extra hitter in the side as an Impact Player.

Probable Playing XI 

Chennai Super Kings: Ruturaj Gaikwad, Devon Conway, Ajinkya Rahane, Moeen Ali, Ambati Rayudu, Shivam Dube, Ravindra Jadeja, MS Dhoni (C ) Sisana Magala, Mitchell Santer, Tushar Deshpande

Rajasthan Royals: JOs Buttler, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Sanju Samson, Riyan Parag, Shimron Hetmeyer, Dhruv Jurel, Jason Holder, Ravichandra Ashwin, Yuzvendra Chahal, Sandeep Sharma and Trent Boult

Also read: The negatives of Impact Player in IPL far outweigh the positives