In the 38th match of IPL 2022, Chennai Super Kings captain Ravindra Jadeja won the toss and opted to field against Mayank Agarwal-led Punjab Kings at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Monday.

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With three wins in seven outings, Punjab Kings are nesting in the unfavourable half of the points tally. PBKS now have to treat every remaining game as a must-win in order to secure their first playoffs berth in eight editions. Their opponents Chennai Super Kings need to continue their winning spree to avoid early elimination. They have just two wins in seven matches. In each other’s misery, both seek a lifeline to keep their frail IPL 2022 campaign afloat.

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What did the captains say?

Ravindra Jadeja: We will bowl first. We don’t know if dew will come or not. Hope that dew comes in the second half. We’ll look to keep things simple, we will stick to our plans, don’t want to try too many things. Sometimes you lose the toss and things don’t go well for us. Sometimes you might not bat or bowl well. We are going with the same team.

Mayank Agarwal: I don’t really have a choice, I have lost six out of seven tosses. We don’t mind having a bat first. We don’t want to dwell too much about the last game, we want to move on. Thinking as a seven game tournament, it’s a fresh start for us. Everyone knows what needs to be done, it’s just about executing our plans. We have made three changes. Shahrukh, Ellis and Arora are out. Rajapaksa, Sandeep and Rishi Dhawan come in.

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Pitch report: This is the same pitch where KL Rahul smashed his second hundred of IPL 2022 yesterday, but other batters struggled. It’s a hard wicket, but the slower deliveries will grip a bit. The surface has good bounce and batting first would be a good choice.  A total of 170-180 will be a good total. 

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Playing XI

Chennai Super Kings: Ruturaj Gaikwad, Robin Uthappa, Ambati Rayudu, Shivam Dube, Ravindra Jadeja(c), MS Dhoni(w), Mitchell Santner, Dwaine Pretorius, Dwayne Bravo, Mukesh Choudhary, Maheesh Theekshana

Punjab Kings: Mayank Agarwal(c), Shikhar Dhawan, Jonny Bairstow, Liam Livingstone, Jitesh Sharma(w), Bhanuka Rajapaksa, Rishi Dhawan, Kagiso Rabada, Rahul Chahar, Sandeep Sharma, Arshdeep Singh