A high-stakes match between cross-city rivals Chennai Super Kings and Royal Challengers Bengaluru kicks off in IPL 2024, as the cash-rich tournament sets its wheels in motion on Friday, March 22 at Chepauk Stadium. (Streaming | Full Coverage | Match Blog)
However, the fans of CSK were jolted early on Thursday, March 21 when they learned that 'Thala' MS Dhoni has stepped down as the skipper of the Men in Yellow with Ruturaj Gaikwad taking over. In a statement put out by the franchise, it said "MS Dhoni has handed over Chennai Super Kings’ captaincy to Ruturaj Gaikwad ahead of the start of TATA IPL 2024.
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Ruturaj has been an integral part of Chennai Super Kings since 2019 and has played 52 matches in IPL during this period.
The team looks forward to the upcoming season."
The defending champions will be eyeing a winning start to the tournament against a Royal Challengers Bengaluru team (formerly known as Royal Challengers Bangalore) that will have taken some inspiration from their women's side, who won the Women's Premier League title against Delhi Capitals.
Faf du Plessis-led RCB will have batting amunition aplenty that includes the likes of Virat Kohli, Glenn Maxwell, Cameron Green among others.
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Speaking of their head-to-head, these two have met 31 times in the IPL. CSK have won 20 of them, with RCB managing only 10.
So here are the first key battles of the IPL 2024 between Chennai Super Kings and Royal Challengers Bengaluru:
1) Deepak Chahar vs Virat Kohli
CSK bowler Deepak Chahar is a dangerous bowler when on-song. A veteran of 73 IPL matches, Chahar's ability lies in swinging the ball both ways and when the pitches are conducive for swing bowling, the 31-year-old can trouble any top-quality batter on his day. RCB's Virat Kohli hasn't played much competitive cricket since the South Africa series this year and with lack of game time, Kohli could face some difficulty at the crease. But the former skipper is undoubted one of the best in the game and if he sets foot at the crease, RCB could set a massive total. Watch out for this mouth-watering battle between bat and ball in the CSK vs RCB match.
2) Ravindra Jadeja vs Glenn Maxwell
The India vs Australia battle could get spicer with the battle between CSK's Ravindra Jadeja and RCB's Glenn Maxwell. Both are quality all-rounders and top-notch fielders. 'Jaddu's spin could come into play at the Chepauk and trouble a batter or two but the 'Big Show' Maxwell knows very well the conditions in India. Despite the toss playing a crucial factor, it will all come down to who blinks first in this crucial battle between Jadeja and Maxwell.
3) Ruturaj Gaikwad vs Mohammed Siraj
After taking over the captaincy reins at CSK, Ruturaj Gaikwad could well feel the 'pressure' of leading the reigning champions in IPL 2024. Gaikwad is not new to leading a team, after successfully leading India to a historic gold at the 2023 Asian Games. Will history repeat itself? Time will tell, however, RCB's Mohammed Siraj could well spoil the party for the CSK skipper. Siraj is one of the leading pacer at the RCB pace-factory and his swing bowling could be handy on a pitch that proves handy to the faster bowlers.
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Squads:
CSK: Ruturaj Gaikwad (c), Moeen Ali, Deepak Chahar, Tushar Deshpande, Shivam Dube,MS Dhoni (wk), 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.
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 and Saurav Chauhan.
