4 min learnMight 9, 2026 03:38 PM IST
With again to again wins of their final two matches in IPL this season, Chennai Tremendous Kings have climbed to the sixth spot within the factors desk with ten factors in ten matches. With 4 matches nonetheless left for the workforce within the league stage, the Ruturaj Gaekwad led Chennai workforce will face Lucknow Tremendous Giants twice, first at Lucknow on Might tenth after which at Chennai on Might 15 earlier than they face Sunrisers Hyderabad at Chennai on Might 18 and Gujarat Titans at Ahmedabad on Might 21. Former Indian spinner and two-time IPL winner Ravichandran Ashwin believes if Chennai can rating a win over Lucknow Tremendous Giants in these two matches, he sees no purpose the workforce can win the remaining two matches and qualify for the play-offs.
“Chennai Tremendous Kings are going to play two video games in opposition to Lucknow Tremendous Giants. Let’s not make the error of claiming this forward of time. LSG are not any pushovers however in case they (Chennai) beat LSG in each these video games come Might 15, I don’t see a purpose Chennai wouldn’t qualify. The purpose is In the event that they win these two by fifteenth, they might have 4 on the bounce, proper. And there’s no purpose why they wouldn’t win two extra on the bounce,” stated Ashwin whereas talking with ESPNCricinfo.
The Rituraj Gaekwad led aspect, which has seen MS Dhoni not being match and never taking part in a single sport but in IPL to date, began their IPL marketing campaign with three successive losses earlier than scoring two consecutive wins. The final 5 matches have seen Chennai profitable three matches with two of their wins coming of their final two matches. When requested about what went incorrect for Chennai initially as properly within the matches they misplaced, Ashwin shared how some weird resolution making together with the dropping of Sarfraz Khan doesn’t make sense to him. “A number of the resolution making has been a bit weird for me as properly. You begin the event with somebody like Sarfaraz Khan. Who’s not had an awesome IPL earlier than. He has been in all probability right here and there with RCB. And he turns up and appears like he’s batting one million {dollars}. And he isn’t even taking part in video games after that. And inside the know of what I’ve stated, I did anticipate this to occur at some stage with Sarfaraz having to compromise on his piston and I didn’t assume it will come to that. He might nonetheless be a really viable quantity three choice,” shared Ashwin.
West Indies’ left-arm spinner Akeal Hossein, who was purchased by Chennai for Rs two crore in final yr’s public sale, has performed solely in 5 matches this IPL. After taking 4 wickets in opposition to Mumbai in Chennai’s win final month, the spinner performed within the match in opposition to Gujarat Titans however then was dropped within the sport in opposition to Mumbai Indians at Chennai. Hossein performed in opposition to Delhi Capitals this week and claimed the wicket of KL Rahul making a gift of solely 19 runs in his spell. Ashwin additionally shared how he sees the dropping of Hossein as a ‘unusual factor’ to grasp . “For me, the workforce utilising Akeal Hossein has been type of unusual to grasp. However I can ultimately say with firmness that there’s some concept behind that. So once they left him out of the SRH sport, they’d clearly.. We will say no matter we wish. Type bowler, left arm spinner in opposition to left hander, you may nonetheless again them. However the workforce is clearly telling all people that we’re not going to make use of the left arm spinner inside the ability play if there are going to be left handers going through them inside the ability play. The second they discovered two right-handers within the type of Pathum Nissanka and KL Rahul in Delhi, they play. So they’re clear, in the event that they discover a proper matchup, they may play him,” Ashwin added.