IPL 2024: Ruturaj Gaikwad’s CSK to meet familiar foes RCB in IPL opener

The 17th season of the Indian Premier League (IPL) will kick-off when familiar foes Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) square off at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai on March 22.

Both teams have had their recent overhauls, with superstars MS Dhoni and Virat Kohli relinquishing captaincy roles. While Faf du Plessis will lead RCB, Dhoni has handed over the leadership role to young batter Ruturaj Gaikwad.

A lot of stakes are on offer when the teams clash on what is expected to be another humid night in Chennai. While CSK would be gunning to stake a claim for their sixth IPL title - a first in the history of the league - RCB would like to do what their women’s team did a week ago.

History is kind to CSK at home, and RCB has always finished second at Chepauk since 2008. The teams have met 31 times in the IPL, and CSK has dominated with 20 wins, while RCB has had just 10 victories, with one match producing no result.

While Dhoni shows no sign of slowing down with his immaculate tactical changes and his reading of the game, his prowess as a batter has been under the scanner for a season or two now. CSK’s young brigade of Rachin Ravindra, Daryl Mitchell, and Gaikwad would be itching to make a mark, while veterans Ajinkya Rahane, Moeen Ali, and Ravindra Jadeja, along with Dhoni, would lend stability to the middle order.

The real test for RCB would come when they set out to face CSK’s spin department. Jadeja, Mitchell Santner, Moeen Ali, Maheesh Theekshana, and Rachin Ravindra can all spin the ball a mile and can make batters dance to their tunes at will.

The pace department looks a bit ordinary, with Deepak Chahar and Shardul Thakur taking on the responsibility, but they have time and again proved their worth with the ball. Shivam Dube and Tushar Deshpande are the back-up options for Gaikwad, but it might be unlikely that the skipper would look beyond Chahar and Thakur. The unavailability of Matheesha Pathirana does put CSK’s fast-bowling unit under the scanner, but spinners are expected to rule the roost at the MA Chidambaram Stadium.

RCB doesn’t look like a well-oiled machine, especially when it comes to the bowling department. Mohammed Siraj, Alzarri Joseph, Lockie Ferguson, Reece Topley, and Akash Deep all have humongous roles to play, but the spin department looks extremely depleted after the release of Wanindu Hasaranga. Karn Sharma, Himanshu Sharma, or Mayank Dagar would hope to be the X-factor in the spin department, but lack of match practice could come to haunt du Plessis' men at some point. They could even turn to Glenn Maxwell to deliver the goods with the ball, should their regular spinners disappoint.

RCB’s batting line-up is laden with match winners. Skipper Du Plessis, star batter Virat Kohli, Maxwell, and Cameron Green have the ability to take any bowling attack to the cleaners, with Dinesh Karthik hoping to get back to his golden finishing touch, like how he did a few seasons ago for the same franchise.

Teams:

Chennai Super Kings: Ruturaj Gaikwad (captain), MS Dhoni, Moeen Ali, Deepak Chahar, Tushar Deshpande, Shivam Dube, Rajvardhan Hangargekar, Ravindra Jadeja, Ajay Mandal, Mukesh Choudhary, Ajinkya Rahane, Shaik Rasheed, Mitchell Santner, Simarjeet Singh, Nishant Sindhu, Prashant Solanki, Maheesh Theekshana, Rachin Ravindra, Shardul Thakur, Daryl Mitchell, Sameer Rizvi, Mustafizur Rahman, and Avanish Rao Aravelly.

Royal Challengers Bengaluru: Faf du Plessis (captain), Glenn Maxwell, Virat Kohli, Rajat Patidar, Anuj Rawat, Dinesh Karthik, Suyash Prabhudessai, Will Jacks, Mahipal Lomror, Karn Sharma, Manoj Bhandage, Mayank Dagar, Vijaykumar Vyshak, Akash Deep, Mohammed Siraj, Reece Topley, Himanshu Sharma, Rajan Kumar, Cameron Green, Alzarri Joseph, Yash Dayal, Tom Curran, Lockie Ferguson, Swapnil Singh, and Saurav Chauhan.