Chennai: Two successive wins at home and two successive losses in away matches. This is the story so far for five time champions Chennai Super Kings (CSK) under its new skipper the young Ruturaj, as the title holder will be keen to return to winning ways, banking on the home advantage, when they take on red-hot Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in an interesting IPL duel at the M A Chidambaram Stadium here on Monday night.
After starting the current edition with a bang with comfortable victories over RCB and Gujarat Titans here, the CSK suffered reverses at the hands of Delhi Capitals and Sunrisers Hyderabad at Visakhapatnam and Hyderabad respectively.
Both the batters and the bowlers failed to deliver the goods resulting in back to back losses and Ruturaj, both as a captain and as a flamboyant opener, faces a real test to arrest the slide.
The CSK is placed third in the points table behind topper Rajasthan Royals (four wins in four matches) and a rampaging KKR (three wins in three matches) and it would banking heavily on the home advantage to notch up its third win.
Lack of big starts in the power play was attributed as one of the reasons for the two defeats and the CSK needs to reverse the trend, for which the top order has to fire on all cylinders.
Ruturaj, who was yet to shine with the willow, has his task cut out. He has to lead from the front by getting his much wanton form that had played a key role in team's wins.
His opening partner Kiwi Rachin Ravindra had starts, but needs to come out with a big score. The middle order, barring left hander Shivam Dube (as an impact player), too needs to fire.
Ajinkya Rahane, Ravindra Jadeja and Daryl Mitchell got pleasing start but have failed to build on these starts.
Former skipper M S Dhoni, who has handed over the mantle to Ruturaj at the start of the current edition, promised much against Delhi Capitals, but he hardly got a chance to stay longer in the middle.
The main concern for Ruturaj was the inconsistency of its bowlers which was also one of the reasons for the team's twin losses. The absence of left arm pacer Mustafizur Rahman, who impressed with a four wicket haul in the tournament opener against RCB, is surely missed.
He has gone back to Bangladesh to complete the Visa formalities for the forthcoming T-20 World Cup and has missed the last two matches.
Deepak Chahar excelled in patches, but showed his skills in the death overs.
Mukesh Choudhary, who got to play his first match against Hyderabad on Friday, had an off-day conceding 27 runs in the solitary over bowled by him.
Tushar Deshpande too needs to get his length right against the in form KKR batters, while spinners Maheesh Theekshana and Ravindra Jadeja manage to contain the batsmen with their tight length.
Sling bowler Sri Lankan Matheesha Pathirana in all probability is likely to return to the side in place of Mukesh and CSK might also retain all-rounder Mooen Ali in the XI on the morrow to add more depth to the batting.
Moeen's off spinners will come in handy as the third spinner as Chepauk pitch is known to be on the slower side.
KKR on the other hand are in ballistic form. After a narrow four run win over Sunrisers after rattling up total in excess of 200, it comfortably chased down 180-plus target in just 17 overs, losing a mere three wickets against RCB.
However, its match against Delhi Capitals showed KKR batting's full potential and also its depth as it scored a record 272 for 7 before restricting their rivals to just 166.
Opener left hander Sunil Narine blasted 85 runs as a pinch-hitter, with Phil Salt giving the much needed impetus at the top order.
Almost all their batters are in fine nick with Raghuvanshi, the powerful Andre Russel, Shreyas Iyer, Rinku Singh and Venkatesh Iyer lending more solidity.
The bowling too looked like a cohesive unit with Aussie Mitchell Starc and Vaibhav Arora, while Russel gives the much needed variety by mixing slow balls, with his experience.
Spinner Sunil Naraine, Varun Chakravathy and Venkatesh Iyer also chipped in at the right moment with crucial breakthroughs.
