IPL 2024: CSK-MI set to battle in a high-octane clash; all eyes on Shivam, Suryakumar

Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], April 14 : As the Indian Premier League (IPL) arch-rivals Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and Mumbai Indians (MI) meet in the high-stakes match at the Wankhede Stadium, all eyes will be on two of league's biggest hitters, Shivam Dube from the Yellow Army and Suryakumar Yadav from the Blue and Gold side.
MI and CSK will battle in a high-stakes 'El Clasico' of the IPL at Wankhede Stadium on Sunday. CSK is in the third spot, with three wins and two losses, giving them six points. They had registered a win over Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in their last game. On the other hand, MI is also picking up momentum, winning two games after three losses and is placed in the seventh spot. They had hammered Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) in their previous game.
Dube and Suryakumar, both Mumbaikars, are extremely instrumental to their team's success. While Dube is enjoying a career resurgance with CSK, Surya on the other hand has been the pillar of MI's success since rejoining the franchise back in 2018 after a brief stint from 2012-13 and a three-year stint with Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) from 2014-17.
It would be crucial for MI to keep Dube's six-hitting willow silent. In five matches so far, he has scored 176 runs at an average of 44.00, with a strike rate of 160, with one half-century. His best score is 51.
In 32 matches for CSK, Dube has scored 883 runs at an average of 35.32, with a strike rate of almost 158, with six half-centuries. His best score is 95*. This in sharp contrast with his forgettable, non-impactful numbers for Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) and Rajasthan Royals (RR).
Despite his heroics for CSK, Dube has not been very productive at Wankhede Stadium in the IPL, which happens to be his home ground in domestic cricket. In 10 IPL matches here, he has scored 159 runs at an average of 15.90, with a strike rate of 111.97. He has not hit even a single fifty here, with the best score of 46.
His last five innings at Wankhede during the IPL are: 3, 8, 10, 0, and 28 and these scores have come in CSK's Yellow jersey.
Now, coming to Suryakumar, he has had a solid start to his IPL 2024 campaign. After a duck against Delhi Capitals (DC), he scored a hard-hitting 52 in just 19 balls, with five fours and four sixes against RCB recently.
Suryakumar has been successful for Mumbai, scoring 2,693 runs in 87 matches at an average of 34.97 with a strike rate of 147.40. He has scored a century and 21 fifties for the franchise. His overall IPL run tally is 3,301 runs in 141 matches at an average of 31.74 and a strike rate of 144.27, with a century and 22 fifties.
But 'Mr 360' of Mumbai has had some struggles while tackling CSK. In 17 matches against the Yellow Army, he has scored 340 runs at an average of 26.15 and a significantly low SR of 117.24. He has scored just two fifties in 14 innings, with the best score of 71*.
His last five innings against CSK are: 3, 3, 32, 1 and 26.
Though CSK has a very good chance to keep their upper hand over Surya intact, they are playing in his territory this time around, where he has a fantastic record. Since 2023, the batter has scored 421 runs in nine innings at the venue at an average of 60.14, with a century and four half-centuries. His strike rate has been above 210.
Chennai Super Kings Squad: Rachin Ravindra, Ruturaj Gaikwad(c), Daryl Mitchell, Shivam Dube, MS Dhoni(w), Ajinkya Rahane, Sameer Rizvi, Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Mustafizur Rahman, Tushar Deshpande, Maheesh Theekshana, Moeen Ali, Shaik Rasheed, Nishant Sindhu, Mitchell Santner, Deepak Chahar, Mukesh Choudhary, Devon Conway, Ajay Jadav Mandal, Prashant Solanki, Simarjeet Singh, RS Hangargekar, Matheesha Pathirana, Aravelly Avanish
Mumbai Indians Squad: Ishan Kishan(w), Rohit Sharma, Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya(c), Tilak Varma, Tim David, Romario Shepherd, Mohammad Nabi, Shreyas Gopal, Jasprit Bumrah, Gerald Coetzee, Akash Madhwal, Dewald Brevis, Naman Dhir, Nehal Wadhera, Harvik Desai, Piyush Chawla, Kwena Maphaka, Shams Mulani, Luke Wood, Arjun Tendulkar, Kumar Kartikeya, Shivalik Sharma, Nuwan Thushara, Anshul Kamboj.