Their bowling attacks struggling to find form, Kings XI Punjab and SunRisers Hyderabad will look towards their power-hitters to do the job when the two erratic teams go head to head in an IPL match, in Dubai, on Thursday.
CSK have better resources but they must utilise them to the hilt. Teams:
Against a quality side like Australia, the performers at the domestic level will get a chance to test themselves against the likes of Josh Hazlewood or Mitchell Starc if Steve Smith and Darren Lehmann decide to give them a few overs.
Coming off heartbreaking losses, the Indian Premier League game between Mumbai Indians and Kings XI Punjab will be a test of character for both sides as they look to get back to winning ways, in Abu Dhabi, on Thursday.
The match, at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium, will also be a face-off between skippers KL Rahul and Shreyas Iyer, both seen as future India captaincy material.
Gujarat opener Priyank Panchal started off his new season with a patient 105 in India's Red's none too impressive 232 for 5 as Murali Vijay and Karun Nair surprised one and all sharing bulk of the spoils for India Green on the opening day of the Duleep Trophy.
A restructured Kings XI Punjab have all the required ingredients to achieve success in the upcoming IPL but they have to ensure that good starts are not squandered and their overseas combination is apt.
KKR will head to the game with the belief that the side can win from any situation, which they have demonstrated time and again.
Ajinkya Rahane's struggles in limited-overs' cricket continued as India B comfortably beat India C by 30 runs to enter the Deodhar Trophy final, in New Delhi, on Wednesday.
This was Shorey's highest first-class score in 45 matches, with his previous best being 145. The double-century will do more good to his already healthy batting average of 48.49.
Young Karan Sharma led from the front with a calm and composed 93 not out as Uttar Pradesh knocked out favourites Karnataka with a five-wicket win in their Ranji Trophy quarter-finals.
A summary of all the action from Day 2 of the Ranji Trophy matches played on Wednesday.
England Lions cruised to a seven-wicket victory in the opening encounter of the Tri-nation 'A' series, in Derby, on Friday.
A win for Punjab will elevate them to the top four, while a victory for KKR will take them to 14 points
This year's IPL was action-packed and Redifff.com reloads some of the memorable moments, in pictures, from this year's competition.
On a roll after back-to-back wins, the vintage Chennai Super Kings would look to extend their winning run when they clash with struggling Kolkata Knight Riders in their next IPL match in Mumbai on Wednesday.
Indian cricket has celebrated the emergence of a potent fast bowling unit but it is high time that the establishment focuses on producing quality Test spinners, especially off-break bowlers, stated former players. Ravichandran Ashwin (365 wickets in 71 Tests) has been an impact bowler in home conditions but the current team management hasn't exactly put complete faith in Tamil Nadu tweaker's abilities in overseas conditions.
Rajasthan Royals, who have won their last two games, will look for another victory against RCB and keep their hopes alive of making it to the IPL play-offs.
Royals are more affected than Sunrisers with the absence of Ben Stokes, Jos Buttler and Joffra Archer, who have left for England to join the World Cup camp.
'Getting Virat Kohli and AB Villiers in same match is a dream for any youngster. It is the best moment of my cricketing career and definitely one of biggest moments of my IPL cricket'
It will interesting to see how the pitch behaves on Sunday.
Smith was handed a one-year ban along with his then deputy David Warner exactly a year ago for their roles in the ball-tampering scandal in South Africa.
The in-form Rajasthan Royals will be confident of a third consecutive victory when they take on Kolkata Knight Riders in the Indian Premier League, in Jaipur, on Wednesday.
Both KXIP and the Royals would look to build a winning momentum after starting the tournament as underdogs.
A big win on Saturday will not only will boost Delhi's morale after the 80-run hammering at the hands of CSK but it could also propel the side to the second position in the eight-team standings.
KKR seek to revive their fortunes against a team they had beaten convincingly in the first leg.
Explaining the insane bids of Morris, Maxwell, Meredith, Richardson
A round-up of Day 3 of the Ranji Trophy quarterfinal matches played on Tuesday
A round-up of Day 1 of the Ranji Trophy matches played on Monday
Both teams have been more than disappointing thus far in the IPL and need a win to revive their respective campaigns.
Mumbai get the money-spinning tournament rolling in Chennai on Friday, just four months after claiming their second successive title, with a match against Royal Challengers Bangalore, led by India captain Virat Kohli.
But the focus will be on 19-year-old Gill, who has broken into the Indian Test squad for the three-match series against the Proteas, starting on October 2 in Visakhapatnam.
Mumbai Indians will look to continue in similar vein when they lock horns with Rajasthan Royals in
Talented Mumbai batsman Shreyas Iyer with an attacking 138 stole the show on the final day on Friday as the team's Ranji Trophy Group 'C' match against Tamil Nadu petered out to a draw at the Sharad Pawar Cricket Academy BKC in Mumbai.
A summary of all the Ranji Trophy matches played on Monday
The choice of Jayant Yadav as back-up off-spinner in Test squad, or picking Baba Aparajith over the likes of Mandeep Singh and Sheldon Jackson in India A, could raise pertinent questions as to whether enough respect has been given by this committee when it comes to selecting performers in domestic cricket.
Shikhar Dhawan's poor technique in testing conditions along with the fitness status of Ishant Sharma and Ravichandran Ashwin will come up for discussion when the selectors pick the Indian team for the two-Test series against the West Indies.
However, Rajasthan would be a bit more desperate than Delhi as they are languishing at the second last position in the points table with just three wins from nine outings.
Unbeaten half-centuries from Manish Pandey (95) and Ambati Rayudu (62) helped India 'B' and India 'A' register victories against South Africa 'A' and Australia 'A' respectively in separate quadrangular one-day series matches in Bengaluru.
CSK will be brimming with confidence having defeated the Royals earlier in the season
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