When former IPL champions Deccan Chargers take on reigning champions, the Chennai Super Kings, at the Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy ACA-VDCA Stadium here on Saturday, it would be as much a clash of two teams with different strategies.

The Chargers, to a man, believe in getting the season off to a good start while the Super Kings, after the eight-wicket home defeat at the hands of the Mumbai Indians in their season opener, will look to get back on track.

In fact, the Super Kings’ bowling coach Andy Bichel thinks the season began along expected lines. “We’ve always been slow starters so the defeat against Mumbai is nothing to get worked up about. It’s a long tournament and we have plenty of time to get back to winning ways,” Bichel said.

On other hand, Chargers captain Cameron White cannot stress enough on the importance of getting off to a winning start. “It’s very important to hit the ground running. The sort of start we make could influence the kind of season we have,” said White, who is filling in for Kumar Sangakkara. The Sri Lankan is expected to join the team for their next match, against the Mumbai Indians.

The Chargers are set to go against a team which has more or less remained unchanged over the last four seasons. In fact, with the exception of Parthiv Patel and Amit Mishra and Manpreet Gony to some extent, none of the other Indian players have international experience.

But this could work in the Chargers’ favour as the unknown quantity could well tilt the scales. The pitch may well be to the Chargers’ liking, considering they have the fiery Dale Steyn in their ranks. The wicket, which could aid the pacers will serve as the perfect fodder for Steyn, who can blow away the rival batting line-up.

Throw all the ingredients into the pot and we have a potential cracker of a contest on Saturday.

key player : Deccan Chargers

Cameron White

Cameron White is a man on a mission – to earn his place back on the Australian team. With the T20 World Cup around the corner, White can be expected to go all out and turn in a good performance, which would be to the Deccan Chargers’ benefit.

key player : Chennai Super Kings

M.S. Dhoni

The Chennai Super Kings skipper hasn’t had the best of times lately. His time spent at the helm is increasingly leading to one defeat after the other, but it is this very reason that could prove dangerous for the opposition.

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On M.S. Dhoni’s hard times of late

(Laughs) M.S. Dhoni under pressure? How can Dhoni be under any kind of pressure? That’s a joke. He’s a great player and a great skipper and the loss to Mumbai is just a hiccup.

He knows what he’s doing out there on the field and we just cannot take anything for granted against him and his side.

On replacing Sangakkara at the helm Sangakkara is the undisputed leader of the team. I’m just filling in while he joins us.

He should be here this weekend and he’ll be ready to take the reins again. I’m more than happy to play under his leadership.

On one-off match as skipper of the side One game as captain means there’s just one chance for me to win. This way, when I hand over the team to Sanga, I can do so with a 100 per cent win record (chuckles).

On his personal goals I’ll be looking to go out there and do whatever I can to help the team progress in the competition. If I can do that, I’ll be satisfied.