IPL 5: CSK vs RCB: Clash of the Heavyweights

Chennai: in M.A. Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai. 

Super Kings would have to display a more consistent performance, if they are hoping to retain the championship trophy with them. 

Having lost two of their three inaugural matches the Chennai side still needs to settle down as a team. 

They lost their first match to Mumbai, came back to register a thumping victory against the Deccan Chargers only to lose meekly to the Delhi Daredevils.

The Royal challenger has similar issues when it comes to performing consistently. The Bangalore side won their first match against Delhi Daredevils only to go down against Kolkata Knight Riders in their second. The Strength of the Super Kings lies in their middle order batting line-up, which has failed to fire so-far. A fact acknowledged by the Captain himself. 

M S Dhoni form is also a cause of concern for the team. The Captain cool has yet to warm up his bat, his total score in the last three matches, played by CSK so far, is dismal-22. 

The low scores-posted by the Chennai Super Kings batsmen-has not given any leverage to Chennai bowlers to experiment and practice their plans. 

Though, being on their home ground might just do the trick, which Chennai Super Kings are so desperately hoping for.

The other camp is also struggling to find their rhythm. The Royal Challenger Bangalore Studded with star players would be a tough side to beat. The Vettori brigade would be expecting a lot from their batsmen, which include the likes of Chris Gayle and current sensation Virat Kohli. Their bowling attack has the required potential to uproot the best batting line-up in the world. Muthiah Muralitharan and Zaheer Khan have the required experience and talent to deliver in a tough situation. 

This is one match of equals that is sure to raise the performance bar of this edition of IPL -2012.

Head-to-head: Played: 12; RCB: 5; CSK: 7 

Teams:

CSK:

MS Dhoni (Capt.), Suresh Raina, S Badrinath, K Shri Vasudevadas, Anirudha Srikkanth, Abhinav Mukund, R Ashwin, Shadab Jakati, Sudeep Tyagi, Joginder Sharma, Yo Mahesh, Ravindra Jadeja, Suraj Randiv, Ganapathy Vignesh, Wriddhiman Saha, Mike Hussey, George Bailey, Doug Bollinger, Ben Hilfenhaus, Nuwan Kulasekara, Albie Morkel, Dwayne Bravo, Scott Styris, Francis Du Plessis.

RCB:

AB de Villiers, Abhimanyu Mithun, Abrar Kazi, Arun Karthik, Asad Pathan, Charl Langeveldt, Chris Gayle, Daniel Vettori, Dirk Nannes, Jamaluddin Syed Mohammad, Johan van der Wath, Luke Pomersbach, Mayank Agarwal, Mohammad Kaif, Raju Bhatkal, Saurabh Tiwary, Sreenath Aravind, Tillakaratne Dilshan, Vinay Kumar, Virat Kohli, Zaheer Khan.