Will winless Chennai be fifth time lucky?

MUMBAI: Chennai Super Kings will need to lift itself after a nightmarish start to the season and play a “complete” game when it takes on a high-flying Royal Challengers Bangalore in the IPL at the DY Patil Stadium here on Tuesday.

In the words of CSK head coach Stephen Fleming, the team’s self belief is shaken after four losses on the bounce. Under new skipper Ravindra Jadeja, who has found it difficult to lead from the front, Chennai has not played the cricket it is known for.

The senior players, including former captain MS Dhoni, Robin Uthappa, Ambati Rayudu and Dwayne Bravo, will have to step up to get the team out of crisis. The Super Kings batters will be up against a potent Bangalore attack that could see some changes.

While Harshal Patel is likely to miss out after leaving the bio-bubble for personal reasons, Josh Hazlewood and Jason Behrendorff are expected to be available for selection. Young Chennai opener Ruturaj Gaikwad, who has had a miserable run so far, would be keen to fire at the top of the order alongside Uthappa.

In the middle overs, southpaws Moeen Ali and Shivam Dube would hope to put CSK in a position of dominance while batting. Super Kings will have to improve in all departments if it is to end its four-match losing streak, against southern rival Royal Challengers.

“There has been [the] issue of player availability. We have been distant second in all games. That is pretty much it,” Fleming had said following Chennai’s loss to Sunrisers Hyderabad. Meanwhile, Bangalore, with three wins and one loss, has been ticking all the boxes.

Current RCB skipper Faf du Plessis, who enjoyed a long and successful stint with CSK, would be eager to impress against his former franchise. His opening partner Anuj Rawat is fresh off his maiden IPL fifty, with Virat Kohli also among the runs.

Dinesh Karthik has been firing on all cylinders as a finisher while Shahbaz Ahmed has shown his batting capabilities in the end overs. So, the Bangalore batting unit would hope to feast on the Chennai bowling attack, which has been way off the mark overall.