IPL 2021 franchise Chennai Super Kings (CSK) have been dealt two blows ahead of the first match of IPL 2021 Phase 2 against Mumbai Indians (MI) which is scheduled on September 19 at UAE. All-rounder Sam Curran is not available while opener Faf Du Plessis is also doubtful with a groin injury. It has raised questions on who will open the innings and who will come in place of Sam Curran. In fact, questions have been raised about what will be CSK’s Playing XI against MI in Dubai.
Sam Curran is guaranteed not to feature in CSK’s Playing XI in the first match. The English bowling all-rounder has arrived in Dubai only on Wednesday morning. Since all players are supposed to serve a mandatory 6-day quarantine upon arrival in UAE, Sam Curran will miss the first match as he can leave quarantine latest by September 21.
IPL 2021:- 3 Players Who Can Replace Sam Curran In CSK’s Playing 11:-
Imran Tahir
Imran Tahir has been playing under talismanic skipper MS Dhoni at Chennai Super Kings for the last three seasons in the Indian Premier League and wishes to continue doing that in the near future as well. Imran Tahir has been playing under MS Dhoni at CSK since 2018 in the Indian Premier League and wishes to continue playing for CSK in the near future as well. From 2014 to 2016, he was playing for Delhi.
Imran Tahir was bought by Chennai Super Kings in the 2018 IPL auction. The leg-spinner had finished as the highest wicket-taker in the 2019 IPL. Imran Tahir, who has been retained by the franchise, is hoping that they can turn their fortunes around in the IPL 2021 season.
Imran Tahir, who is playing in IPL since 2014 has 82 wickets in 59 games averaging 20.76. He picked 26 wickets in IPL 2019 playing 17 games averaging 16.57 and won the purple cap for being the highest wicket-taker but he played only 3 games in IPL 2020 and picked a solitary wicket and featured in 1 game in IPL 2021 before its postponement and picked 2 scalps.
Mitchell Santner
In the IPL history, Mitchell Santner was picked up for the first time by the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in the 2018 IPL auction for INR 50 lakh (same as his base price). The New Zealand cricketer was very excited to participate in the IPL 2018 but he was ruled out from that edition due to a knee injury.
He finally made his IPL debut in the 2019 edition. He played only four matches in that season where the left-arm spinner bagged four wickets. Also, the left-handed batsman scored 32 runs in that season (average 32.00). In 2020, he picked 2 scalps from 2 games.
Since his debut, left-handed batsman and left arm leg spinner Mitchell Santner has been an impressive prospect although he’s had his share of ups and downs in world cricket. He is yet to feature in IPL 2021 as the likes of Moeen Ali has been preferred.
Krishnappa Gowtham
The spin-bowling all-rounder Krishnappa Gowtham bagged a staggering INR 9.25 crore contract from Chennai Super Kings in IPL 2021. While overseas players like Chris Morris, Kyle Jamieson, and Glenn Maxwell stole headlines bagging contracts of above INR 14 crores, Krishnappa Gowtham became the most expensive uncapped Indian player in the history of the competition.
Rajasthan Royals picked Krishnappa Gowtham for a whopping INR 6.2 crore from his base price of INR 20 lakhs in IPL 2018 auctions. The all-rounder scored 126 runs and took 11 wickets in 2018 where he played 15 games. He played only 7 games in 2019 for Rajasthan and only 2 in 2020 for Punjab Kings (formerly Kings XI Punjab) and didn’t perform that well.
He is yet to play for CSK in IPL 2021 although he debuted for India in the recent white-ball series against Sri Lanka where he played 1 ODI and contracted Covid-19 after being isolated due to being in close contact with Krunal Pandya.
CSK Predicted XI against MI: Ruturaj Gaikwad, Robin Uthappa, Moeen Ali, Suresh Raina, MS Dhoni (c/wk), Dwayne Bravo, Mitchell Santner, Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Deepak Chahar, Imran Tahir
Also In Contention: Ambati Rayudu, Josh Hazlewood, Lungi Ngidi