What

Defending champions Chennai Super Kings will faceoff against Royal Challengers Bangalore in the opening fixture of VIVO IPL 2019.

The side put together by CSK last season was dubbed by a few as ‘Army of Oldies’; however, the players justified the adage ‘age is just a number’ as CSK clinched the title upon their return to the league after a two-year suspension. MS Dhoni’s side won 9 of their 14 league matches – this despite having to shift base to Pune, sailed straight to the final by winning the first playoff, and then turned in a dominant performance in the title clash to clinch their third IPL title.

The franchise has retained the bulk of the squad that did duty for them last season. They have given themselves a couple more options by acquiring the services of Mohit Sharma (former India pacer) and Ruturaj Gaikwad (Maharashtra opening batsman) in the IPL Player Auction 2019.

The title holders were dealt a lethal blow days prior to their opening match when South African pacer Lungi Ngidi was ruled out of the season with a side strain. It will be interesting to see if the team management replaces him with David Willey or if they tinker around with the line-up.

RCB had a disappointing season in 2018. The franchise won just 6 of their 14 league matches and finished sixth in the eight team standings. Virat Kohli’s team won only 3 of their first 10 matches and were therefore always playing catch up. Heading into their last league match, they were still in with a chance of progressing to the Playoffs; but Rajasthan Royals emerged victors in that match and qualified as the fourth qualifier.

RCB have retained 15 players from their 2018 squad and acquired the services of nine more players at the IPL Player Auction 2019. Shimron Hetmyer, Shivam Dube and Heinrich Klaasen are among the exciting new signings. They will be handicapped at the start of the season with Marcus Stoinis and Nathan Coulter-Nile missing out the first few games because of international commitments.

When

23 March 2019, 8pm IST

Where

MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai

Likely XIs:

Chennai Super Kings: Shane Watson, Faf du Plessis, Suresh Raina, Ambati Rayudu, MS Dhoni, Kedar Jadhav, Dwayne Bravo, Ravindra Jadeja, Harbhajan Singh, Deepak Chahar, David Willey.

Royal Challengers Bangalore: Virat Kohli, Parthiv Patel, AB de Villiers, Heinrich Klaasen, Shimron Hetmyer, Moeen Ali, Washington Sundar, Pawan Negi, Yuzvendra Chahal, Mohammed Siraj, Umesh Yadav.

Protagonists

Suresh Raina has scored in excess of 350 runs in each of the nine seasons that CSK has been part of the league and has been one of the pillars of the team’s success. The left-hander may not be in the scheme of things where the national team is concerned, but he is only 32 years old and still has a lot to offer. Raina will have fond memories of playing at the Chepauk – a place he can call home away from home; in his entire career, Raina has scored more runs at the MA Chidambaram Stadium than at any other venue.

As has been the case for the last few seasons, Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers form the nuclei of RCB’s batting. One can expect the pair to bat with a lot more freedom this season knowing they have more ammunition in the batting order this time; Shimron Hetmyer, Shivam Dube and Heinrich Klaasen are powerful strikers of the cricket ball and can cause plenty of damage with the bat.

For CSK, Shane Watson - who scored a match-winning century the last time he donned the yellow jersey (IPL 2018 Final) – will be expected to carry his recent good form with the bat. IPL 2018 gave Ambati Rayudu a second shot at international cricket, and the 33-year old will hope to use the platform to secure a berth in India’s World Cup squad.

Among the bowlers, the ones who could cause most grief are Dwayne Bravo (CSK) and Yuzvendra Chahal (RCB).

Head to Head in Indian Premier League

Matches – 22, CSK Won – 14, RCB Won – 7, No Result – 1

In VIVO IPL 2018, CSK got the better of RCB in both the meetings. In the first meeting in Bengaluru, an MS Dhoni-special rescued CSK to a 5-wicket win. In the second meeting in Chennai, the spin twins Ravindra Jadeja and Harbhajan Singh picked up five wickets between them to restrict RCB to 127-9, which the hosts chased down with two overs to spare.

Trivia

CSK have a 34-14 win-loss record in IPL matches at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai. RCB have won only two of their 8 matches at the venue.

Suresh Raina and Virat Kohli are on the brink of reaching 5000 runs in the IPL; Raina’s current aggregate stands at 4985, while Kohli’s aggregate reads 4948 runs.