Chennai Super Kings (CSK) will be locking horns with last year’s finalists Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in the opening match of the Indian Premier League (IPL). The match will be played at the Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai. Both the teams have locked horns with each other 27 times in the IPL, and CSK has the upper hand winning on 18 occasions, while KKR has won 9 matches.
KKR will be witnessing a new skipper this year, with the reins now being handed over to Shreyas Iyer. While the opening game promises to be a high-octane encounter, Let’s take a look at the 3 players’ battles to look forward to.
#1 Ruturaj Gaikwad vs Varun Chakravarthy
The young opener, Ruturaj Gaikwad has been a revelation for the MS Dhoni-led side and has already given some memorable performances with his bat. Now, with the commencement of the new IPL season, the youngster will once again be prepped up to deliver some big knocks. He will be expected to engage in an interesting contest if KKR decides to bowl Chakravarthy in the powerplay. The mystery spinner has already showcased his prowess and it will be interesting to see who wins the battle.
#2 Shreyas Iyer vs Ravindra Jadeja
The contest between the captains will also be the one to watch out for. The two have recently played some matches together against various opponents for India, and there have been many instances of the two battling it out on the crease for their team, taking India towards victory.
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Ravindra Jadeja is aware of the strengths and weaknesses of Shreyas Iyer with the bat, and, thus, will plan out his bowling accordingly. The newly-appointed skipper, who has shared some good partnerships with the CSK spinner of late, will have to watch out for his game when Jadeja shows off his skill in Yellow.
#3 Andre Russell vs Dwayne Bravo
The two Caribbean stars have been known for sharing great camaraderie on and off the field, but their face-off will be worth watching. The two have played plenty of games for the West Indies, and thus know each other’s abilities very well. Andre Russell’s highest IPL score is an unbeaten 88 against CSK in 2018. In that game, he had smashed 11 sixes and a few against Dwayne Bravo. It will be the same again as the two players get ready for the big opening game on March 26.
