Dhoni, Sanga face-off in IPL (Preview)

It would be a repeat of sorts of the 2011 world cup final when MS Dhoni’s Chennai take on former Sri-Lankan skipper Kumar Sangakkara led Hyderabad. Dhoni emerged on the winning side that day to lift the cup and broke Sanga’s heart. He would be keen to repeat the dose while as the Lankan would be hoping for a sweet revenge. The match to be played at Chepauk would be between two sides trying to break into the top four and a win here would help their cause.

Following a loss to Mumbai, the home team has looked organized and disciplined walloping Pune twice in quick succession. Back to back victories have given Chennai some winning momentum going into this Sunday encounter with their key men in form. Murli Vijay, S Badrinath and Suresh Raina all contributed with the bat in their last match to seal a comfortable victory.

The Chepauk surface is a spinner’s paradise which makes the Chennai bowling very potent. The likes of R Ashwin and Shadab Jakati relish bowling on that low and slow turner and make the life of opposition batsmen difficult. Ashwin’s carom ball in particular has been in news for bamboozling some good batsmen. Doug Bollinger’s pace was also a highlight in that match against Pune.

It is no surprise that the Chennai fielding is very good as some of country’s best fielders don the yellow colours. Dhoni’s astute and experimental captaincy has proved to be the X-factor for the home team.

Chennai can take the tally of their wins to five and improve their current standing in the league table if they overcome another team trying to do the same. Hyderabad have so far been hot and cold winning just three games out of the seven they played.

Ishant Sharma and Sanga were the heroes of the victory against Kochi. Sharma in particular was menacing as he claimed a fifer in IPL for first time. The way he made the opposition batsmen jump around with his pace and bounce was a treat to watch. Then there is another man who can do the same, Dale Steyn. The batting would again revolve around Sangakkara.

However, Chennai would fancy their chances in this match given their good balance and presence of many match-winners in the team.

HYDERABAD

Players who can make impact…

Amit Mishra… The former Delhi leggie would be itching to bowl on the spinning Chennai pitch and the success spinners have had on that track would make it hard for the Chennai players to read his deceptive googly. What has impressed pundits about this bowler is that he mixes up his big leg breaks and googlies with all the control and accuracy in the world.

K Sangakkara....He played a captain’s innings in the last match to power Hyderabad to a much-needed victory. He once a gain has to play a captain’s knock and get his team over the line.

SQUAD

Akash Bhandari, Amit Mishra, Anand Rajan, Ankit Sharma, Ashish Reddy, Bharat Chipli, Cameron White, Chris Lynn, Dale Steyn, Daniel Christian, DR Teja, Harmeet Singh, Ishan Malhotra, Ishank Jaggi, Ishant Sharma, Jaydev Shah, JP Duminy, Juan Theron, K Sangakkara (c)(wk), Kedar Devdhar, Manpreet Gony, Michael Lumb, Pragyan Ojha, Shikhar Dhawan, Sunny Sohal.

CHENNAI

Players who can make impact…

Suresh Raina….The highest run getter in the IPL played a little cameo in the last match and his ability to clear the filed on a regular basis makes him a very dangerous batsman.

MS Dhoni….Captain cool is yet to play a big innings for his side but, as usual, has led his team well. With Hyderabad tie very important for both the teams, Dhoni will be eager to get one in-front of his home crowd. His knack of hitting big shots and keep his cool in pressure situations make him a real impact player.

SQUAD

Abhinav Mukund, Albie Morkel, Ben Hilfenhaus, Doug Bollinger, Dwayne Bravo, Faf du Plessis, Ganapathi Vignesh, George Bailey, Joginder Sharma, K Vasudevadas, Michael Hussey, MS Dhoni (c)(wk), Murali Vijay, Nuwan Kulasekara, R Ashwin, S Badrinath, Scott Styris, Shadab Jakati ,Srikkanth Anirudha, Sudeep Tyagi, Suraj Randiv, Suresh Raina, Tim Southee, Wriddhiman Saha,Yo Mahesh.