IPL 2023 CSK vs LSG Preview - Chennai seek to reestablish fortress Chepauk

Key match stats CSK vs LSG

Pitch Stats – MA Chidambaram Stadium

Average first innings score: 162
Average first innings winning score: 173
Average powerplay score:
Win % batting 1st vs batting 2nd: 58% / 39%

Team form CSK vs LSG

Recent meetings: IPL 2022 - LSG won by 6 wickets

Preview CSK vs LSG

It's no great secret that Chennai's previous success in the IPL has been based on a strong home record here at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chepauk. The slow turning pitches favour a team like CSK who have multiple spin options and a captain in MS Dhoni who knows how to utilise those options. Therefore it's not surprising that the franchise used the super auction at the end of 2021 to pick a squad that should continue to prosper in home conditions.

The template for CSK and indeed any side who hopes to win at this venue, is generally to bat first, get runs on the board and then squeeze the opposition with slower bowlers and score board pressure. No other venue has nearly as high a win % for sides batting first as the MA Chidambaram does. It's worth noting that the HCPA Stadium, the only other venue with a higher % of wins for the side batting first, has only seen a handful of IPL matches played so in that regard, of the regular stadiums used to host IPL games in India, the MA Chidambaram is way out in front!

Venue	Win % teams batting first	Ave. 1st innings winning score
MA Chidambaram Stadium	58.2%	173.1
HPCA Stadium	55.6%	190.8
Arun Jaitley Stadium	46.2%	180.8

Highest % win batting first for venues being used in IPL 2023

Team selection for CSK will be interesting. They will still be without Sri Lankan spinner Maheesh Theekshana while he completes his international duties and opted for 2 left-arm spinners in the opening game against GT. Given the propensity of right-handed batsmen in the Gujarat line-up that seemed like a fair enough selection.

Kyle Mayers came into the LSG team to help prevent a similar shortage of left-handers at the top of LSG's order in their opening match against DC and performed well. Of course, had Khaleel Ahmed taken a regulation catch when the big West Indian was on just 14 then things might have turned out differently. As well as his batting, Mayers offers LSG an additional bowling option as part of a Lucknow side that looked strong in all departments in an impressive win.

CSK vs LSG head to head

LSG bowling vs CSK batting

Forget team loyalties, the love that Indian cricket fans show MS Dhoni every time he comes out to bat is unbelievable. Before he came in against GT the crowd at the Narenda Modhi Stadium they were chanting his name, when he came to the crease and hit a couple of singles they cheered to the same level as any other batsmen got when he hit a six, when Dhoni cleared the boundary himself the shock waves were heard around the world! Bear in mind that this was an away game, so you can imagine that the reception he will get when he returns to the MA Chidambaram Stadium is going to be equally as impressive.

MS Dhoni T20 record at the MA Chidambaram Stadium

A big season for Dhoni could see him sneak ahead of Suresh Raini as the highest scoring batsmen in the IPL at the MA Chidambaram Stadium - Dhoni is currently 143 runs behind Raina in that regard. Meanwhile, for the next generation of CSK stars including Ruturaj Gaikwad who scored a magnificent 92 in the opening game, this will be their first ever IPL match at this venue!

What surprised me about Gujrat's tactics against Gaikwad were that they didn't open the bowling with Josh Little alongside Mohammed Shami. If Gaikwad does have a weakness then it is most certainly early in his innings against left-arm quicks. In his relatively short career, he has been dismissed 9 times by left-arm bowlers in the powerplay, 4 of those coming in the very first over of the innings!

Gaiwkaid's first over dismissals vs left-arm swing bowling

Gujarat didn't introduce left-arm pace until the 4th over of the innings, by which time Gaikwad had faced 12 deliveries and creamed Hardik Pandya for a couple of boundaries. LSG do have a couple of left-arm options, including Daniel Sams who as you can see from the highlights above, dismissed Gaikwad with the first ball of the innings the last time the pair met.

Given the form of Wood and Mayers in the opening match you'd imagine the only chance that Sams has of playing is if LSG opt to bring him in to replace fellow Aussie Marcus Stoinis.

CSK bowling vs LSG batting

In previous visits to the MA Chidambaram Stadium, KL Rahul has looked to anchor the innings while others play around him leading to a healthy average but a fairly poor strike rate.

KL Rahul T20 record at the MA Chidambaram Stadium

Certainly one of the reason's that CSK have failed to dismiss KL Rahul cheaply is his excellent T20 record against Deepak Chahar who is yet to taste success against the right-hander. If KL Rahul can face 9 more deliveries from Chahar without being dismissed then he will equal Rohit Sharma's streak of 84 balls faced against Andre Russell in T20 cricket without a wicket falling, the highest of players involved in IPL 2023.

Deepak Chahar vs KL Rahul T20 head to head stats

In fact, of the bowlers used in CSK's first match, only Mitch Santner has claimed Rahul's wicket before meaning that he averages 231 in T20 cricket v CSK's match 1 bowling attack!

Claiming early wickets will be crucial to CSK given the weakness of their death bowling options and the strength of LSG's lower order. When Vijay Shankar was dismissed in the match against GT, CSK were favourites to win but ended up being beaten fairly comfortably with 4 balls to spare as Rashid Khan and Rahul Tewatia plundered 20 runs from 5 legal deliveries. Meanwhile LSG added 66 runs in the final 6 overs of their win against Delhi.

Deshpande IPL death overs bowling stats

Interestingly, Deepak Chahar has only bowled 27 deliveries at the death in T20 matches played at the MA Chidambaram Stadium which is just 14% of his total bowling at this venue. In previous season's it's been Dwayne Bravo who has bowled most of those tough overs at the death but he's now watching from the stands which means CSK will need to rethink the balance of their team and may not have the luxury of attacking as much with Chahar early in the innings as has been the case in previous seasons.

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All stats used in this blog are from my own databases which are freely accessible below
IPL head to head player stats
IPL player stats by venue
IPL stadium statistics.
Images are my own with the exception of player profiles and background images which are used under a creative commons license or otherwise royalty free