The second game of IPL 2021 will take place in Mumbai on April 10 and will feature the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) taking on the Delhi Capitals. This is a big game for CSK after their terrible performance in IPL 2020 when they did not qualify for the playoffs for the first time in IPL history.
CSK fans called for massive changes to the ageing squad but the owners decided not to make wholesale changes. MS Dhoni will have another chance in 2021 to lead CSK to their fourth IPL championship. Standing in their way at the start is the Delhi Capitals who are among the top three teams that bookmakers think will win the IPL trophy in 2021.
Bookmakers have CSK as the underdogs for this game with odds of 2.20 while the Capitals are the betting favorites with odds of 1.66. If you want to bet on this game, you can do so at these top IPL betting sites. You can place your bets online or via a mobile betting app.
What CSK Must Do To Win
CSK messed things up in 2020 when they got their playing XI and combinations wrong for most of the tournament. The absence of Suresh Raina and injuries to some of their other key players unsettled the squad and they were not able to adapt quickly.
CSK cannot afford to make those same mistakes in 2021 if they are going to be a serious challenge for the rest of the IPL franchises. The first thing is to settle on their top 6 as they have Suresh Raina back in the squad and also have a couple of new faces in Moeen Ali and Robin Uthappa.
CSK also need to find the right lower middle-order combination who can increase the strike rate at the death as they can no longer depend on MS Dhoni. If CSK can fix these issues before they play their first game, they will have a great chance to win against the Delhi Capitals.
The players to watch out for in this game are Robin Uthappa, Suresh Raina and L Ngidi.
What Delhi Capitals Must Do To Win
The Delhi Capitals suffered a massive blow when they lost their captain Shreyas Iyer due to injury. The owners called for a meeting and decided to give the captaincy to R Pant even though they had a lot more senior players in the squad which included S Dhawan, R Ashwin, A Rahane and Steve Smith.
If Delhi Capitals are going to be a force in IPL 2021, Pant needs to quickly establish his presence and a win in the first game against CSK will do wonders for his confidence. We will also have to wait and see how the senior players in the squad respond to his leadership.
If the team gels well under Pant’s leadership, the Delhi Capitals will be a difficult challenge for most IPL teams. However, if Pant struggles with his leadership and the senior players don’t back him, the Capitals will find it hard to win against the stronger teams. We also need to see how the added responsibility of being captain impacts Pant’s batting game.
The key players to watch out for during the first game are R Pant, M Stoinis, S Smith and P Shaw.
Our Experts Predict
The outcome for this game could very well be decided by the captains. For CSK, you have the veteran MS Dhoni and for the Capitals you have the young and in-experienced R Pant. We are going to bet on MS Dhoni and CSK to win on April 10.
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