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A two-month-long cricket carnival begins as the 15th edition of the Indian Premier League commences on March 26. Ten teams will compete across two groups, comprising 70 league matches. Each team will play 14 matches each for a spot in the playoffs. The first match of the IPL 2022 will witness the finalists from the previous edition CSK and KKR collide at Wankhede Stadium.
Chennai Super Kings are the four-time IPL champions and are defending champions, having won the 2021 season. CSK retained four of their key players ahead of the auction in MS Dhoni, Ravindra Jadeja, Moeen Ali and Ruturaj Gaikwad.
The franchise then had a similar approach to their auction and are looking like a pretty similar squad to their last edition. A new and shocking development sees Dhoni hand over the captaincy to Jadeja ahead of the tournament. How it affects the team remains to be seen.
Kolkata Knight Riders won their titles in 2012 and 2014 but have since struggled to repeat the glory. They came close in the IPL 2021, reaching the final by winning two knockout matches. But they eventually fell against none other than CSK.
Ahead of the mega auction, KKR retained Andre Russell, Varun Chakravarthy, Venkatesh Iyer and Sunil Narine. The Knight Riders spent a huge purse on getting Shreyas Iyer, who will lead them in the upcoming season.
The tournament is long, but most of the teams will be struggling with the players’ availability and team combination in the early stages. Both CSK and KKR would love to get a headstart with a win in the season opener.
Key players
Ruturaj Gaikwad has been one of the most dominant batters in Indian domestic cricket in the last year or so, piling on runs across formats. The CSK opener was the Orange cap winner in the IPL 2021, amassing 635 runs from 16 matches at an average of 45 while striking at 136.
He had registered one hundred and four fifties in that season. Gaikwad’s ability to play spin as well as pace makes him a solid option at the top of the order.
Shreyas Iyer has transformed into one of the top players in Indian cricket. Iyer is one of the best players of spin bowling in the world and has recently returned to his more attacking game.
He has pretty good numbers in the shorter format, with 4409 runs at an average of 33 and strike rate of 130. Iyer has two centuries and 28 half centuries to his credit in the format. Iyer has been in magnificent form, most recently scoring 57*, 74* and 73* in the last three T20 matches.
Ravindra Jadeja has taken his batting game to a whole new level in the last couple of years in all formats. In the last two IPL seasons, the left hander has hammered 459 runs for CSK at an average of 57 while striking at 158. Jadeja’s left arm spin offers a good match-up option.
He has picked 19 wickets in the last two editions at 7.78 rpo. Jadeja has been in good form and remains a key player for CSK.
Andre Russell is one of the biggest superstars in the T20 format with astonishing numbers to back him up. The Jamaican has scored over 6500 runs in T20 cricket at an average of 26 while striking at astonishing 169. Dre Russ has blasted two hundreds and 25 fifties in the format. He adds tremendous value with his right arm fast bowling. Russell has picked 354 wickets with the ball, including nine four-wicket hauls.
Prediction
When you look at the overall head to head record between these two franchises, there’s one clear winner. CSK have claimed 18 matches in this rivalry, while KKR have won only nine. In the last five games as well, CSK have dominated with four victories.
Both the teams are affected with player unavailability, KKR more than CSK. The Super Kings will miss their key all-rounder Ali as he arrived late while KKR will not have the services of Pat Cummins and Aaron Finch in the first few matches. For CSK, Deepak Chahar’s unavailability is a big blow.
Chennai have a deep batting line-up with Ruturaj Gaikwad, Devon Conway, Robin Uthappa, Ambati Rayudu and Ravindra Jadeja. The bowling attack looks weak and will be highly dependent on how Dwayne Bravo does in the death overs. Kolkata, on the other hand, have an underwhelming batting unit. Iyer and Russell will need to produce something special for them. Their spin bowling attack of Narine and Chakravarthy is good but could be neutralized at Wankhede Stadium.
Overall, CSK have the historical advantage and their squad looks more all-round than that of KKR. Expect CSK to kick off their title defence with a win on Saturday.
