3 player battles to watch out for in RR vs CSK, Match 11 of IPL 2025 ft. Khaleel Ahmed

The Rajasthan Royals (RR) will play the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in the 11th match of the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 on Sunday, March 30, in the second match of the double-header day. The game will be contested at the Barsapara Cricket Stadium in Guwahati.

Both teams are coming off losses from their respective previous encounters. RR faced back-to-back defeats in their first two games against the SunRisers Hyderabad (SRH) and the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR).

Meanwhile, CSK’s winning start to the tournament didn’t last long as the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) beat the five-time champions in their second game at home, achieving the feat for the first time in 17 years.

With both sides motivated to get back to winning ways, here are three player battles to watch out for in their upcoming clash:

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3 player battles to watch out for in RR vs CSK, Match 11 of IPL 2025

#3 Yashasvi Jaiswal vs Khaleel Ahmed

RR’s opening batter Yashasvi Jaiswal will be up against CSK’s new-ball bowler Khaleel Ahmed when RR take on CSK on Sunday. The former has not been at his best at the start of this IPL season, having scored just 30 runs in two games so far.

Ahmed, meanwhile, was terrific in CSK’s campaign opener against the Mumbai Indians (MI), picking three wickets, but couldn’t repeat his heroics against RCB and finished with a lone scalp.

Ahmed and Jaiswal’s match-ups have come only in the past two years (2023 and 2024), where the RR youngster has scored 30 runs in 14 deliveries of three innings, at a strike rate of 214.28. The CSK bowler has dismissed him once in these outings, with that scalp coming in 2024.

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#2 Noor Ahmad vs Shimron Hetmyer

Noor Ahmad is one player from the CSK camp who’s been in top form and is currently the Purple Cap holder at the IPL 2025 with seven wickets. He picked up a four-wicket haul against MI and finished with three scalps against RCB in the previous game.

Rajasthan Royals’ middle-order hitter, Hetmyer, has faced 26 deliveries off Ahmad and scored 38 runs at a strike rate of 146.15. In these six innings, Ahmad has dismissed the Caribbean batter once. This will be the seventh encounter between the two players, and both will aim to get the upper hand.

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#1 Shivam Dube vs Wanindu Hasaranga

Two fine middle-order players - Shivam Dube of CSK and Wanindu Hasaranga of RR - will likely face off when their teams meet on Sunday. While Dube has been a fixed name on the CSK side, Hasaranga played his first game for RR this season against KKR.

The two have faced off only twice in T20s, where Dube scored 27 runs against the Sri Lankan in 13 deliveries. Dube is in good touch with the bat, and Hasaranga is a pro in keeping the opposition batters under check, which is why this will be a battle worth watching.