Can CSK and SRH channel their inner RCB?

The mood at Chepauk is a bit sombre. The sense of anticipation, typical of IPL venues on match eve, seems to be missing. There's a general lack of fanfare 24 hours out from the first ball, and at a ground that once pulled in 10,000 fans just to watch a practice session after a two-year hiatus, the silence feels louder. Inside the press conference room, Stephen Fleming doesn't have much new to say. And at the box office, the uncertainty lingers around ticket sales according to local reports, a phenomenon unheard of on these shores.

It's a reflection of the kind of season Chennai Super Kings have had so far. Only two wins in their first eight matches has consigned them to the bottom of the points table, and while MS Dhoni has briefly spoken about getting the "combinations right" and "securing an eleven" for the "next year" already, Fleming sounded a bit more optimistic than he did after