CSK’s start to this season of the IPL has been erratic so far. A fantastic win against Mumbai Indians were followed by two insipid performances against Delhi Capitals and Rajasthan Royals. The biggest issue for the men in yellow has been their batting order. The openers have struggled to provide good starts and Ambati Rayudu missing out after a brilliant 70 odd hasn’t helped the combination either.

CSK will be playing SRH tonight who themselves have been struggling with their team combination at the start of the tournament. The only difference between the two sides is that SRH are coming off a morale boosting win while CSK have been beaten in their last couple of games. CSK management would have to make some tough calls with team selection to arrest the slide and to get back on track.

The first step towards the same would be to drop Murali Vijay from the XI. Vijay has done exceedingly well for CSK in the past but he is currently looking listless and isn’t contributing with the bat or in the field. Ruturaj Gaikwad who has been wasted down the order can open with Shane Watson pushing Ambati Rayudu and Faf Du Plessis to number 3 and 4 in the order. Kedar Jadhav and MS Dhoni forming the top 6 forming a more solid batting order.

If fit Dwayne Bravo can come in at number 7 following by Jadeja at 8 and Sam Curran at 9. Sam Curran can be a floater as he has been at the start of the tournament for CSK. Deepak Chahar and Piyush Chawla would be taking up the remaining spots. This would give CSK great balance with three all-rounders and two genuine bowlers in the line up. Dwayne Bravo’s selection though might not be straight forward though. There is very good chance that Josh Hazlewood or Imran Tahir might make the XI. Based on who is selected one of Piyush Chawla and Shardul Thakur also might make the XI

There are a few selection headaches for the CSK management when they sit down to select the playing XI for tonight. With losses in the last couple of games CSK need a quick turnaround and another loss would set their campaign way back. There are lots of issues with the CSK squad this season and they do not have too many options to replace the injured players. They would need to be creative with their options would need to make most of the players they have.

My CSK XI:

Shane Watson, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Ambati Rayudu, Faf Du Plessis, Kedar Jadhav, MS Dhoni (Capt & WK), Dwayne Bravo/Josh Hazlewood, Sam Curran, Ravindra Jadeja, Piyush Chawla, Deepak Chahar