The craze among fans will only circle around if MS Dhoni finally plays a match for the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) tonight. CSK host the Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in what will be the final home game of the season for the five-time champions. However, don’t rule out the competence of SRH, who will qualify if they win this bout. They are coming on the back of six wins in their last eight games. One could say that the Pat Cummins-led side are favourites to win this. But will they make any tactical change?
SRH’s batting needs no repairing
Chennai’s bowlers will have a tough day negotiating SRH’s top four, which is probably the most dangerous in the league. Abhishek Sharma has arrested the slump he saw at the T20 World Cup 2026, while Travis Head has been effective, despite not being at his best this season. Ishan Kishan is in his peak, while Heinrich Klaasen has perhaps been the best batter of the tournament. He is in the mix for the Orange Cap despite batting at number four all season.
| Player | Inns | Runs | Ave | SR | 6s |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Heinrich Klaasen | 12 | 508 | 50.80 | 153.93 | 23 |
| Abhishek Sharma | 12 | 481 | 43.72 | 209.13 | 37 |
| Ishan Kishan | 12 | 420 | 35.00 | 185.84 | 23 |
| Travis Head | 12 | 361 | 30.08 | 171.09 | 22 |
| Nitish Kumar Reddy | 10 | 224 | 28.00 | 163.50 | 16 |
| Salil Arora | 9 | 111 | 18.50 | 154.16 | 8 |
| Aniket Verma | 8 | 79 | 13.16 | 146.29 | 5 |
Then, however, comes a place where SRH lack a bit of clarity. They are using an all-Indian middle and lower-order batting pool. Aniket Verma, who was one of the finds of the season last year, has failed this time. That’s why he has played just once this month. Instead, Salil Arora and Smaran Ravichandran played the last game, with Nitish Kumar Reddy adding variety with his all-round skills. SRH are likely to continue with the same batting group.
Dubey in place of Hinge?
Now, the only change that the Orange Army could make is to bring in a spinner for a pacer. Here, Harsh Dubey for Praful Hinge. No doubt, Hinge has been a great addition for SRH, with 10 wickets in five games. However, most of his wickets have come when batters have gone hard at him.
His economy of of 11.26 shows that Hinge could go for many. In the last game, he definitely got both Shubman Gill and Jos Buttler, two of GT’s biggest wickets, but both the batters went out on attacking shots. Hinge’s bowling wasn’t exceptional.
Hence, he is the best bet to move out if SRH wants to add in a spinner. Currently, Shivang Kumar is the only spinner in the team. Shivang has shown superb skills, and is one for the future. In addition to him, Harsh Dubey can easily slot in as CSK have multiple right-handers in the team. Their top five is made up of just righties and Dubey can be a tactical change who can come in to bowl inside the powerplay and in the midde. Also, the Chepauk pitch hasn’t been pace-bowling friendly.
Pace vs Spin at Chepauk
| Bowling Type | Matches | Balls Bowled | Runs | Wickets | Best | Average | Economy | Strike Rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pace | 6 | 911 | 1469 | 41 | 4/18 | 35.82 | 9.67 | 22.2 |
| Spin | 6 | 486 | 734 | 20 | 3/21 | 36.70 | 9.06 | 24.3 |
Thankfully for SRH, Eshan Malinga is having his best season, with him taking 16 wickets so far in the league. He, alongside Sakib Hussain (12 wickets), has been a wicket-taking weapon for Cummins. While Cummins himself has gone at a great economy of less than eight and a half, his pace bowlers have been fantastic in effectiveness. Bowling coach Varun Aaron deserves a shoutout as well.
| Player | Inns | Wkts | BBI | Ave | Econ | SR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Eshan Malinga | 12 | 16 | 4/32 | 25.50 | 9.63 | 15.8 |
| Sakib Hussain | 8 | 12 | 4/24 | 23.33 | 9.33 | 15.0 |
| Praful Hinge | 5 | 10 | 4/34 | 21.40 | 11.26 | 11.4 |
| Harsh Dubey | 8 | 8 | 3/12 | 28.50 | 10.36 | 16.5 |
| Shivang Kumar | 10 | 8 | 3/33 | 38.00 | 9.50 | 24.0 |
| Nitish Reddy | 11 | 7 | 2/17 | 38.00 | 10.23 | 22.2 |
| Pat Cummins | 5 | 5 | 2/34 | 33.40 | 8.35 | 24.0 |
Predicted SRH playing XI vs CSK
Abhishek Sharma, Travis Head, Ishan Kishan, Heinrich Klaasen, Nitish Reddy, Smaran Ravichandran, Salil Arora, Pat Cummins, Harsh Dubey, Shivang Kumar, Sakib Hussain
Impact player: Ehsan Malinga
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