Chennai Super Kings vs Punjab Kings: October 7, IPL 2021 Prediction

We have a certain regicide on our hands with two Kings going head-to-head, with one of those Kings standing with one foot in the grave.

CSK, standing on 18 points at the time of writing, will be wary of a late attack by Royal Challengers Bangalore, who are two points behind with a match in hand. RCB are far behind in terms of net run rate, but that won’t matter if they win both their last two matches and CSK lose their only remaining game. The Super Kings will also be looking to overtake Delhi Capitals for the top spot for the sake of pride points.

Ruturaj Gaikwad, Faf du Plessis, Shardul Thakur and Deepak Chahar will have to be at the top of their game for CSK to win this, with Dubai’s tricky surface a certain challenge for the batters in particular. Their recent loss to DC will be fresh on their minds, and the errors made in that game will have to be addressed.

PBKS, on the other hand, are in far more dire straits. In order to qualify, they will not only need to win, but also need Mumbai Indians to beat Rajasthan Royals but lose to Sunrisers Hyderabad, and the same Royals to beat Kolkata Knight Riders. If you feel confused after hearing that, spare a thought for PBKS players and fans!

It’s hard to be a team that has the exact same player as the biggest strength and biggest weakness. KL Rahul is an incredibly talented cricketer, but his approach to the game and idea that ‘strike rate is very, very overrated’ is doing PBKS in more often than not, with potent players like Shahrukh Khan often failing to make a big enough impact as they come in at a time when the run rate is sky-high thanks to their captain. Moreover, the continued selection of Nicholas Pooran has left us baffled.

Last 5 encounters between CSK and PBKS (Source)

Match Prediction and Betting Odds

Our match 53 prediction goes in favour of CSK, as PBKS is just too inconsistent and in low spirits.