Chennai, Apr 3 (IANS): Former India cricketer Mohammad Kaif, who was a member of the 2008 IPL-winning Rajasthan Royals team, cited the spin-friendly nature of pitches at Chepauk as the reason behind Chennai Super Kings (CSK) being a formidable force at home.

On Monday, CSK will be back playing at the M.A. Chidambaram Stadium after a gap of 1426 days when they face the K.L Rahul-led Lucknow Super Giants in their first home game of IPL 2023.

The last time CSK played at Chepauk was on May 7, 2019, before the Covid-19 pandemic prevented them from playing their home games in Chennai.

"It's always a challenge for the visiting teams as to how to beat CSK in Chennai. Chepauk has always been an impregnable fortress of CSK. The track here is spin-friendly and there's no bigger captain than M.S Dhoni in conditions like these."

"This year as well, Dhoni has some top-quality spinners in his side and it won't be easy for any team to beat them at home," Kaif was quoted as saying by Star Sports.

The last competitive cricket game played in Chennai was the ODI series decider between India and Australia, where spinners from both sides collectively picked 11 wickets, indicating that spin will play a part during CSK's matches at home.

At Chepauk, CSK have won a whopping 40 out of 56 IPL matches at home. Against Lucknow, CSK will still be without the services of South Africa pacer Sisanda Magala as well as the Sri Lankan pair of Maheesh Theekshana and Matheesha Pathirana due to their respective commitments in international cricket.