The Chennai Super Kings and Royal Challengers Bangalore would begin their IPL 2024 campaign on Friday night in a high-stakes clash between two southern giants.
CSK, the five-time and defending champions, will be eyeing a historic sixth title that would put them in a league of their own, surpassing even the record-holding Mumbai Indians.
RCB, fresh off their maiden Women's Premier League triumph, will be desperate to add the men's trophy to their cabinet for the first time. However, they face a number of challenges.
Led by the experienced MS Dhoni, the Super Kings boast a formidable lineup but will rely on emerging talent to fill crucial roles, especially with the absence of key players like Devon Conway due to injury.
This places the onus on younger players to step up. The team has pinned their hopes on new recruit Rachin Ravindra, who will cover for the injured Devon Conway.
CSK also boasts the hard-hitting Kiwi middle-order batsman Daryl Mitchell, who can contribute with his handy seam bowling. They can further rely on the experience of Ajinkya Rahane and the exuberance of young opener Ruturaj Gaikwad.
However, their true strength lies in their spin attack, perfectly suited to the abrasive Chidambaram pitch. Ravindra Jadeja, Mitchell Santner, Moeen Ali and Maheesh Theekshana form a potent quartet capable of bamboozling even the best batsmen.
Deepak Chahar and Shardul Thakur add experience in pace bowling, but Sri Lankan slinger Matheesha Pathirana's absence due to a hamstring injury is a blow. His death-overs skills are crucial, and CSK will hope for a swift recovery.
Despite these minor setbacks, CSK remain a formidable force. RCB, for their part, have a poor record at Chepauk, having not beaten CSK there since 2008.
The batting responsibility for RCB will once again fall on skipper Faf du Plessis and Virat Kohli, who returns to competitive cricket after a two-month break.
The addition of Cameron Green provides some much-needed batting depth and bowling firepower. Glenn Maxwell's big-hitting exploits in the last World Cup are still fresh in memory.
While their pace attack boasts raw pace with Mohammed Siraj, Lockie Ferguson, Alzarri Joseph, Akash Deep and Reece Topley, their death bowling options are a concern.
The spin attack appears threadbare following the release of leg-spinner Wanindu Hasaranga.
RCB will have to bank on Maxwell's off-spin and hope for contributions from relatively inexperienced options like Karn Sharma and Himanshu Sharma.
Squads:
CSK: MS Dhoni (c), Moeen Ali, Deepak Chahar, Tushar Deshpande, Shivam Dube, Ruturaj Gaikwad, 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, Avanish Rao Aravelly.
RCB: Faf du Plessis (c), 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, Saurav Chauhan.
Match starts: 8.00 PM.
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