IPL 2021: Rajasthan Royals' Ben Stokes labels Chepauk wicket as 'trash'

Rajasthan Royals is a former champion of the Indian Premier League, having won in 2008, under Shane Warne. The MA Chidambaram (Chepauk) Stadium in Chennai will host ten games in IPL 2021. Ben Stokes has been ruled out of IPL 2021 for RR with a broken finger.

Former champion Rajasthan Royals is not having the best of time in the 2021 Indian Premier League. In the four games the team has played so far, it has managed to win just one and is placed at the bottom of the table.

Interestingly, RR played all its games at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai, which has been a decent batting track, compared to the extremely slow tracks at the MA Chidambaram (Chepauk) Stadium in Chennai. Meanwhile, Chennai would host its final game of the season on Sunday, between Sunrisers Hyderabad and Delhi Capitals.

Although RR is not scheduled to play any game at the venue, its ace all-rounder Ben Stokes has lambasted the pitch for being unfit for Twenty20 cricket. "Hope the wickets don't get worse as the IPL gets deeper into the tournament..160/170 minimum not scraping to 130/140 cause the wickets are trash," he wrote in a tweet.

So far, in the nine games held in Chennai, only twice the team batting first has scored 170-plus. Royal Challengers Bangalore has been the top scorer at the ground this season, scoring 204, while Kolkata Knight Riders is second, with 187.

(Image courtesy: BCCI)

Ideally, a score of 145-150 has been an ideal competitive target on the Chennai pitch. Meanwhile, with the track getting slower with each passing game, the sides winning the toss have elected to bat first.

(Image courtesy: BCCI)

Meanwhile, Stokes has been ruled out of IPL 2021 with a broken finger. Moreover, with the mega auction set for next season, it would be interesting to see if RR retains him.