CSK bowl, de Villiers returns, Willey to make IPL debut

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Chennai Super Kings chose to bowl v Royal Challengers Bangalore

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Who's the more difficult batsman to bowl to? Who's better in chases? Sanjay Manjrekar and Shaun Tait discuss all that and more

One team needed extra bowling resources, the other its talisman, and both shortcomings were addressed to give a marquee clash additional sheen. AB de Villiers recovered from viral fever to regain his spot in the Royal Challengers Bangalore XI while Chennai Super Kings handed out a debut to David Willey, the left-arm fast bowling allrounder from England. With his inclusion, MS Dhoni has seven specialist bowling options.

Both captains said they wanted to chase even though the pitch started out dry and is likely to get drier as the sun beats down. Some green grass was left on it to perhaps slow down the deterioration. In any case, that suggests they are more than confident the batsmen in their line-ups can cope in case conditions become difficult, but not the bowlers. And there are stats to back that kind of thinking. CSK and RCB have given away the most runs in the death overs this season.

Willey's addition could help in that regard. He is a specialist T20 player for England, having recently opted out of a first-class contract with Yorkshire, and is noted for his ability to swing the new ball. He also has incredible hitting ability and has a highest score of 118. The IPL audience may want to get used to him. Faf du Plessis was forced to the bench.

By contrast, a player that's been around for a while - Parthiv Patel - will also be in action, playing his first game for RCB this season with Quinton de Kock having left for home to attend a wedding.

Batsman Dhruv Shorey found a place in the CSK XI as well at the expense of legspinner Karn Sharma

Chennai Super Kings: 1 Shane Watson, 2 Ambati Rayudu, 3 Suresh Raina, 4 MS Dhoni (capt & wk), 5 Dhruv Shorey, 6 Ravindra Jadeja, 7 Dwayne Bravo, 8 David Willey, 9 Harbhajan Singh, 10 Lungi Ngidi, 11 Shardul Thakur

Royal Challengers Bangalore: 1 Parthiv Patel (wk), 2 Brendon McCullum 3 Virat Kohli (capt), 4 AB de Villiers, 5 Mandeep Singh, 6 Colin de Grandhomme, 7 M Ashwin, 8 Tim Southee, 9 Umesh Yadav, 10 Yuzvendra Chahal, 11 Mohammed Siraj

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Ireland bank on pace for debut Test against Pakistan

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An experienced squad led by long-time captain William Porterfield will face Pakistan at Malahide Cricket Club when the two sides meet next week in what will be Ireland's first Test match.

Cricket Ireland's 14-man squad includes many stalwarts of the Irish game, including the O'Brien brothers, Andrew Balbirnie and Paul Stirling. Left-arm spinner George Dockrell, who has struggled for form and had a disappointing World Cup qualifying campaign in Zimbabwe, was left out.

Ireland's best chance of troubling Pakistan in home conditions lies in the quality and strength of their seam bowling, and unsurprisingly, players with that skill set feature heavily in the squad. Boyd Rankin, Tim Murtagh, Stuart Thompson, Tyrone Kane, and Kevin O'Brien are all handy options in their own conditions. Less than a week ago, Pakistan were bowled out for 168 against second division Kent, their troubles to handle seam bowling particularly evident.

Despite this being their first Test match, Ireland probably won't go into it with eleven debutants. Veteran fast bowler Boyd Rankin has played one Test - for England - over four years ago. That came against Australia in Sydney, the fifth match of a series England lost 5-0.

Ireland will become the 11th side to play Test cricket, after the ICC last year approved them, along with Afghanistan, as the 11th and 12th ICC Full Members. They have been a consistently impressive side around the fringes of the top ten for the past decade or so, and Pakistan, of all nations, need no reminding of their potential to cause an upset. In the 2007 World Cup, Ireland stunned Pakistan in the group stage by three wickets, knocking them out of the competition on St Patrick's Day. They claimed a Full Member scalp in each of the following World Cups, beating England by chasing down 329 in 2011, and trouncing West Indies in the sides' opening game in 2015.

Squad: William Porterfield (capt), Andrew Balbirnie, Ed Joyce, Tyrone Kane, Andy McBrine, Tim Murtagh, Kevin O'Brien, Niall O'Brien (wk), Boyd Rankin, Nathan Smith, Paul Stirling, James Shannon, Stuart Thompson, Gary Wilson

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