Chennai, March 28 Chennai Super Kings won the toss and elected to bowl first against Royal Challengers Bengaluru in Match 8 of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 at the MA Chidambaram here on Friday.
Both teams made a change in their playing XI from the side that played their last match. CSK brought in Matheesha Pathirana in place of Nathan Ellis while RCB included the experienced Bhuvneshwar Kumar in place of Rasik Salam.
Ruturaj Gaikwad, CSK captain said they are looking to chase once again. "Wicket will play slightly better than last game, looking to chase whatever the score is. So far, there has been no dew but you never know when it'll arrive. It's uncontrollable but we have planned better for it. We were slightly behind in the field, need to improve there."
RCB captain Rajat Patidar said they also wanted to bowl first but feels batting first would not make much difference. "We wanted to bowl but the surface looks hard, wouldn't have made a big difference. It's important to bring out the best every day, want to do that tonight also.
"The bowling unit showed courage last game after 13 tough overs, that was heartening. Openers showing intent was impressive too. RCB vs CSK is one of the best games because of how fans support both teams," said Patidar.
Both RCB and CSK come into the Southern Derby having won their opening games against Kolkata Knight Riders and Mumbai Indians respectively. The former are looking to register their first win at this venue since 2008, the inaugral edition of the tournament.
Playing XIs:
Royal Challengers Bengaluru: Virat Kohli, Phil Salt, Devdutt Padikkal, Rajat Patidar (capt), Liam Livingstone, Jitesh Sharma (wk), Tim David, Krunal Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Josh Hazlewood, Yash Dayal
Chennai Super Kings: Rachin Ravindra, Rahul Tripathi, Ruturaj Gaikwad (capt), Deepak Hooda, Sam Curran, Ravindra Jadeja, MS Dhoni (wk), R Ashwin, Noor Ahmad, Matheesha Pathirana, Khaleel Ahmed
Impact Players:
RCB: Suyash Sharma, Rasikh Dar, Manoj Bhandage, Jacob Bethell, Swapnil Singh
CSK: Shivam Dube, Kamlesh Nagarkoti, Vijay Shankar, Jamie Overton, Shaik Rasheed
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