Moeen Ali likely to miss IPL 2022 opener: 3 CSK players who can replace England all-rounder against KKR
Who will replace Moeen in CSK's playing XI against KKR? | Photo - IPL |
Chennai Super Kings (CSK) will be without the services of two of their key players when they take the field against Kolkata Knight Riders in the opening match of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022 on Saturday (March 26). CSK will be missing Indian pacer Deepak Chahar and England all-rounder Moeen Ali for the game.
While Chahar is still recovering from his injury and is expected to miss at least a couple of weeks of action for CSK, Ali is yet to receive his visa for India and is currently stuck in London. Despite having applied for the visa a long time back, Ali is yet to receive approval and leave for India to join the rest of the CSK squad ahead of the new season.
If Ali manages to land in India today (March 23) only then will he be able to feature in the playing XI for CSK in their opening game against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) on March 26 (Saturday).All players are required to serve at least 3 days of isolation upon landing in their team hotel. Ali is thus likely to miss CSK's opener against Shreyas Iyer's men.
In the absence of Ali, CSK have a number of players on their roster who can take the England all-rounder's spot in the playing XI against KKR. Here is a look at three players who can take his spot in the side:
1) Mitchell Santner
New Zealand all-rounder Mitchell Santner can be a like-to-like replacement for MoeenAli in the CSK line-up. While Robin Uthappa can take Ali's no.3 spot in the top-order, Santner can be slotted in the middle-order. He has been with CSK for quite some time now and is a great utility player who can contribute with both the bat and the ball.
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2) Shivam Dube
Indian all-rounder Shivam Dube can also take Moeen's spot in the playing XI which will allow CSK to play four quality overseas players in the form of Devon Conway, Dwayne Bravo, Chris Jordan and Adam Milne all together. CSK can also include Sri Lankan spinner Maheesh Theekshana in place of Jordan.
3) Chris Jordan
England pacer Chris Jordan can be an excellent option in the death overs for CSK and also swing his bat in the tail. Jordan can be CSK's fourth overseas player in the XI along with Conway, Bravo and Milne. Uthappa can bat at number three with Rayudu at 4 and Ravindra Jadeja at number five to allow Jordan to be included in the XI.