Moeen Ali. Picture Credit: Twitter
It’s the 19th match of the Indian Premier League 2021. MS Dhoni’s Chennai Super Kings are up against Virat Kohli’s Royal Challengers Bangalore - a clash much anticipated one. With the sun setting bright at the Wankhede Stadium, Chennai Super Kings won the toss and selected to bat first.
What amazed many was that CSK's number 3 batsman Moeen Ali was not there in the playing XI. To see a valuable player missing from the squad, fans and experts of the game started wondering on why this call was taken.
MS Dhoni reveals reason behind Moeen Ali's ouster
During the toss, CSK skipper MS Dhoni opened up on Moeen Ali’s exclusion from the playing XI in the ongoing match. He revealed that the player is "not fit" and hence missed the game. The English all-rounder, who has played 4 matches for CSK till now, has scored 133 runs at the strike rate of 152.87.
DJ Bravo and Imran Tahir have been called in, with Moeen Ali sitting out in this game. Meanwhile, all the other players are fit and the squad remains the same except for these two changes. However, later, CSK's new recruit Robin Uthappa clarified that there is nothing serious about Moeen's fitness and he should be ready for the next game.
CSK squad against RCB:
Ruturaj Gaikwad, Faf du Plessis, Suresh Raina, Ambati Rayudu, MS Dhoni(w/c), Ravindra Jadeja, Sam Curran, Dwayne Bravo, Shardul Thakur, Deepak Chahar, Imran Tahir
Will Chennai they be able to beat Bangalore, who are undefeated in the season with 4 wins in a row? The performances on the field will only tell the fate.