A contest which can be termed as a perfect tournament opener, defending champions Chennai Super Kings (CSK) will lock horns with Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in the tournament opener of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2019 at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai on Saturday.
Boosted by last season’s performance where they defeated RCB on both the occasions, CSK will be looking to get their campaign underway with a winning start. However, RCB has played a tournament opener once earlier in the inaugural edition and they lost the game by a huge margin against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR). The MS Dhoni-led squad managed to retain almost everyone from their title-winning squad and look to be strong contenders to defend their title for the second time.
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RCB have often termed as chokers in the IPL, but this year, Virat Kohli is looking forward to shedding the tag. With a fresh coaching staff led by India’s 2011 World Cup-winning coach Gary Kirsten and Ashish Nehra, RCB won’t be having a pressure of winning the game at home and they will be hoping for creating an upset at the Chepauk.
Chennai Super Kings (CSK)
CSK are certain to go with their tried and tested opening combination of Ambati Rayudu and Shane Watson. While Rayudu hasn’t been in the best of forms this year, Watson recently won the Player of the Tournament in the Pakistan Super League (PSL) after scoring 430 runs from 12 matches at an average of 43. With the presence of Dhoni and Suresh Raina, CSK has a formidable middle order.
The defending champions will miss the services of Faf du Plessis and Imran Tahir for their opening match. Tahir who could have played a key role in the second innings with the Chepauk wicket expected to slow later in the night. Ravindra Jadeja could be the best possible replacement for Tahir. Dwayne Bravo and Mitchell Santner are set to feature in the side with either the England duo of Sam Billings or David Willey expected to fill in the fourth overseas slot.
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Probable XI: 1. Ambati Rayudu, 2. Shane Watson, 3. Suresh Raina, 4. MS Dhoni (captain and wicketkeeper), 5. Kedar Jadhav, 6. Sam Billings/David Willey, 7. Dwayne Bravo, 8. Ravindra Jadeja, 9. Deepak Chahar, 10. Mitchell Santner, 11. Shardul Thakur
Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB)
There is no denying to the fact Virat and AB de Villiers will be shouldering the responsibility of scoring most of the runs for RCB. However, this season, the franchise added more firepower to their batting arsenal with the signing of Windies batsman Shimron Hetmyer will be a sure shot inclusion. While RCB has always faced a problem to find the right balance in their squad, the signing of Mumbai allrounder Shivam Dube could resolve the issue.
Dube will be expected to be in the playing XI despite lacking in the match practice. New Zealand pacer Tim Southee is expected to lead the bowling department, while Umesh Yadav will be expected to replicate last year’s heroics where he snapped 20 wickets. With the Chepauk known to assist spinners, RCB may go ahead with Pawan Negi or Moeen Ali along with Yuzvendra Chahal and homeboy Washington Sundar.
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Probable XI: 1. Parthiv Patel, 2. Shimron Hetmyer, 3. Virat Kohli, 4. AB de Villiers, 5. Moeen Ali, 6. Shivam Dube, 7. Washington Sundar/Pawan Negi, 8. Tim Southee, 9. Umesh Yadav, 10. Mohammad Siraj, 11. Yuzvendra Chahal
