IPL 2019: Looking ahead to the opening match of the tournament between CSK and RCB
The MS Dhoni led defending champions Chennai Super Kings will take on the Virat Kohli led Royal Challengers Bangalore at Chepauk’s MA Chidambaram stadium in the season opener on March 23. Both teams have high scoring batsmen and wicket-taking bowlers, as well as a good line up of international players, so it promises to be a blockbuster match.
CSK made a fairytale comeback to the tournament after the completion of their 2-year ban. Dhoni's team won 11 out of the 16 matches they played last season, ending the league stage in second position behind Sunrisers Hyderabad.
Against Royal Challengers Bangalore, Chennai Super Kings both their matches - at home as well as away - to complete a double over Kohli’s team.
Head to Head
These teams have faced each other in 23 matches, with CSK leading RCB 15-7 in the overall head to head record. There has been one match with no result.
Clearly, CSK have outshone RCB on most occasions; they have regularly dominated their neighbours. This year RCB will try and turn things around against the Chennai-based team.
Key players
CSK
Ambati Rayudu played very well for the yellow jersey last year; he scored 602 runs in 16 matches, giving his team several terrific starts. Apart from Rayudu, Shane Watson, Suresh Raina and the legend himself MS Dhoni will also play crucial roles.
RCB
Both Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers are the batting pillars of RCB. Parthiv Patel is also an asset for the team. Umesh Yadav and Mohammad Siraj are the players from whom the team would hope for economical bowling figures.
Team lineups
Chennai Super Kings
MS Dhoni, Suresh Raina, Faf du Plessis, M Vijay, Shane Watson, Ravindra Jadeja, Mitchell Santner, David Willey, Dwayne Bravo, Kedar Jadhav, Ambati Rayudu, Sam Billings, Harbhajan Singh, Deepak Chahar, KM Asif, Lungi Ngidi, Imran Tahir, Karn Sharma
Royal Challengers Bangalore
Virat Kohli, Ab de Villiers, Parthiv Patel, Yuzvendra Chahal, Washington Sundar, Pawan Negi, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Moeen Ali, Mohammad Siraj, Colin de Grandhomme, Tim Southee, Umesh Yadav, Navdeep Saini, Kulwant Khejroliya, Shivam Dube, Shimron Hetmyer, Akshdeep Nath, Prayas Barman.