Massive Blow to Chennai as star player unlikely to play against Punjab

In a crushing blow to Chennai, pacer Chris Jordan is unlikely to play Chennai’s next game against Punjab. Jordan was recently hospitalised due to a health issue. The timing of this incident was wrong from the team’s perspective as another pacer Adam Milne is also injured. Milne played in the team’s first game against Kolkata but had to sit out against Lucknow. The right-arm pacer got injured ahead of the game. These scenarios have created a different set of problems for the defending champions.

They are currently facing a lack of experience in the bowling department as their lead pacer Deepak Chahar is also recovering from an injury. Chahar is currently in the National Cricket Academy (NCA) where he has started his rehabilitation.

However, he hasn’t recovered from the injury he picked in February while playing a T20I against the West Indies.
They have fielded the likes of Tushar Despande and Mukesh Choudhary, who are inexperienced at this level. Not to forget, the team has lost their first two games against Kolkata and Lucknow respectively. They were convincingly beaten by Kolkata in their first game. On the other hand, they struggled to defend a total of 210 against Lucknow. Meanwhile, Chris Jordan was admitted to a hospital due to a tonsil infection.

Jordan was hospitalized on March 26, when Chennai and Kolkata played the opening game of the ongoing season. The right-arm pacer has to stay there for six days. The four-time winners will play their next game against Punjab on April 3 at the Brabourne Stadium in Mumbai. The Men In Yellow have a great win-loss ratio against Punjab in the last 14 years. The former will be looking to maintain the record and bounce back in the season. Notably, this is the first time the Chennai-based team has lost their first two games of a season.