Possible reason why Kedar Jadhav replaced Piyush Chawla in CSK's playing XI vs. DC

The Chennai Super Kings have not had an impressive campaign in IPL 2020 so far. They have won only three of their last eight games, and one of the primary reasons behind their five losses has been their unsettled team combination. 

Usually, the fans see that the Chennai Super Kings play with the same set of players for the entire season. However, this year, because of Suresh Raina’s unavailability, there has been a massive hole in the top order. The current batsmen have tried their best on the field but the things have not gone in CSK’s favor. 

In today’s match, the Chennai Super Kings have included Kedar Jadhav in the playing XI, who is replacing Piyush Chawla. It is noteworthy that Jadhav had played in six matches of the season, where he could score only 58 runs. Also, CSK did not use his services in the bowling department. 

Tonight, he is playing in Piyush Chawla’s place. Narayan Jagadeesan, who had done well on debut, was not given an opportunity. To understand CSK’s thinking behind this, one needs to go back to the post-match presentation between CSK and SRH, where Dhoni said the following statement:

“We used an extra spinner because an Indian batter hasn't done well for us. That's why Sam Curran went up and it wasn't fair on Jagadeesan as well to bat at seven or eight.”

The match between the Delhi Capitals and the Chennai Super Kings is taking place at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium. The ground is very small, and in the last match that CSK played here, Chawla leaked 55 runs in his four overs. Sanju Samson hit him all over the park, and since DC have some big-hitting batsmen, the CSK team management might have thought of leaving him out of playing XI. 

Since it was not fair on Jagadeesan to bat at seven or eight, they included Kedar Jadhav. Although Jadhav has not done well for CSK, he has been a match-winner in cricket. It will be interesting to see if this change pays move and if Kedar is used in the bowling attack today.