CSK vs RCB: The much-awaited 17th season of the Indian Premier League (IPL) has finally begun. The current champions, Chennai Super Kings (CSK), and Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) will face each other in an exciting opening match at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai.
CSK is starting a new chapter, and this match against RCB is the beginning of their journey. Ruturaj Gaikwad will be leading CSK for the first time as captain, as MS Dhoni has stepped down. On Thursday, March 21, the franchise announced that Gaikwad has taken over as captain from Dhoni.
This is the second time Dhoni has given up the captaincy of CSK, and the team is really hoping it goes better this time. In 2022, Dhoni handed over the captaincy to Ravindra Jadeja, but things didn’t go well. CSK lost six of their first eight games under Jadeja’s leadership. Eventually, Jadeja stepped down as captain. CSK finished the season in ninth place with only four wins out of 14 games.
On the other hand, Faf du Plessis will continue to lead the RCB team. After failing to make it to the playoffs last season, RCB is eager to perform well this year and start on a positive note.
CSK vs RCB – Impact players list:
CSK Impact Players: Shaik Rasheed, Nishant Sindhu, Moeen Ali, Shardul Thakur, and Shivam Dube
RCB Impact Players: Yash Dayal, Suyash Prabhudessai, Vijaykumar Vyshak, Akash Deep, and Swapnil Singh
Talking about the game, RCB captain Faf du Plessis won the toss and opted to bat first. After winning the toss, Faf said:
“We’ll bat first. Looks a good wicket, conditions here are a bat first wicket. First time back here, great to see the Chennai fans again but I’m here with RCB and hopefully we can turn over a very good CSK team. Prep has been good, we need to turn up now. A seasoned campaigner, brings that experience.”
Gaikwad, who is making his debut as captain for CSK, said: “Feel privileged. But I want to try and be in my shoes, not fill anybody’s shoes. I got to know last week, but Mahi bhai hinted at it last year. Everyone is experienced here, sadly we are missing Conway and Pathirana. We’ve got Rachin and Mitchell coming in though.”
PLAYING XI FOR RCB AND CSK:
Chennai Super Kings –
Ruturaj Gaikwad (c), Rachin Ravindra, Moeen Ali, Shivam Dube, Ravindra Jadeja, MS Dhoni (wk), Shardul Thakur, Deepak Chahar, Tushar Deshpande, Mustafizur Rahman, Maheesh Theekshana.
Royal Challengers Bengaluru –
Faf du Plessis (c), Virat Kohli, Cameron Green, Rajat Patidar, Glenn Maxwell, Mahipal Lamror, Dinesh Karthik (wk), Suyash Prabhudessai, Lockie Ferguson, Mohammed Siraj, Karn Sharma.
