RR VS CSK weather, pitch report: Will rain play a spoilsport? What will the conditions be like in Guwahati today? Check details here

Completely shaken by the sound thrashing that Royal Challengers Bengaluru handed them, a confused Chennai Super Kings might feel more "at home" against an equally clueless Rajasthan Royals on a slow turner expected to be on offer in their next IPL game here on Sunday. Losing by more than 50 runs at 'Fortress Chepauk' would have seemed like a wishful thinking for an opposition side till date but RCB's 'class of 2025' under an ever-improving skipper Rajat Patidar has exposed some chinks in the CSK armoury and the match against RR couldn't have come at a better time for Ruturaj Gaikwad's men.

Dhoni's unbeaten 30 off 16 balls only has value for nostalgia merchants as the former India captain is doing disservice to his team by coming in to bat when all is seemingly lost.

In this backdrop, playing RR on a surface which is "more Chepauk-ish than typical Barsapara Stadium track full of runs" might just help CSK get a win against a side that also doesn't boast of a great bowling attack.

Also Riyan Parag is too raw as a skipper and to put it mildly seems completely out of place for a high stakes assignment like leading a billion dollar franchise.

But all these years, CSK had the personnel to play that game, especially in the bowling department, which doesn't look top notch this year.

It is an intriguing situation where RR don't have one big overseas batting heavyweight like Jos Buttler and their Indian bowling assortment comprising Tushar Deshpande and Sandeep Sharma also doesn't inspire confidence.

RR also do not have a quality spinner to exploit the Barsapara track.

In a nutshell, CSK is slightly ahead in a battle of two weak teams.

RR vs CSK: Weather prediction

According to Accuweather, Guwahati is expected to experience evening temperatures ranging between 28-30 degrees Celsius, gradually dropping to 23 degrees by night.

RR vs CSK: Pitch report

Like other IPL venues, the pitch at Barsapara Stadium favors batting and has seen high-scoring games, including totals of 200. However, in the last match, Rajasthan struggled to reach just 151 against KKR. Early on, seamers can expect some assistance with the new ball before batters settle in and take charge.

Squads:

Chennai Super Kings: Ruturaj Gaikwad (c), MS Dhoni, Ravindra Jadeja, Shivam Dube, Matheesha Pathirana, Noor Ahmad, Ravichandran Ashwin, Devon Conway, Syed Khaleel Ahmed, Rachin Ravindra, Rahul Tripathi, Vijay Shankar, Sam Curran, Shaik Rashid, Anshul Kamboj, Mukesh Choudhary, Deepak Hooda, Gurjanpreet Singh, Nathan Ellis, Jamie Overton, Kamlesh Nagarkoti, Ramakrishnan Ghosh, Shreyas Gopal, Vansh Bedi, Andre Siddarth.

Rajasthan Royals: Riyan Parag (stand-in captain), Sanju Samson, Shubham Dubey, Vaibhav Suryavanshi, Kunal Rathore, Shimron Hetmyer, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Dhruv Jurel, Nitish Rana, Yudhvir Singh, Jofra Archer, Maheesh Theekshana, Wanindu Hasaranga, Akash Madhwal, Kumar Kartikeya Singh, Tushar Deshpande, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Kwena Maphaka, Ashok Sharma, Sandeep Sharma.