The Playing XI, Match Preview and Pitch Report are ready for the first match of IPL 2022!
The stage is set for the 15th edition of the Indian Premier League, which will begin on the 26th of March in Mumbai. Last year’s finalists, the Chennai Super Kings and the Kolkata Knight Riders will lock horns in the inaugural match, which is set to take place at the Wankhede Stadium.
Both teams have done pretty well at the auction table, with Chennai Super Kings bagging the likes of Deepak Chahar, Ambati Rayudu and Dwayne Bravo while their opposition has snapped up Shreyas Iyer, Pat Cummins and Nitish Rana. Chennai has Dhoni while KKR’s first XI looks solid, although the same can’t be said about the replacements.
CSK vs KKR Probable XI
Chennai Super Kings Probable XI: Ruturaj Gaikwad, Devon Conway, Moeen Ali, Ambati Rayudu, MS Dhoni (C/WK), Shivam Dube, Ravindra Jadeja, Chris Jordan, KM Asif/Tushar Deshpande, Adam Milne, Prashant Solanki, Maheesh Theekshana.
Kolkata Knight Riders Probable XI: Venkatesh Iyer, Ajinkya Rahane, Shreyas Iyer (C), Nitish Rana, Sam Billings (wk), Andre Russell, Pat Cummins, Sunil Narine, Shivam Mavi, Varun Chakravarthy, Umesh Yadav.
Losing Deepak Chahar to injury is a huge blow for the Chennai franchise, who shelled out 14 crores for the services of the bowling all-rounder. This puts their team combination in disarray as Chris Jordan has to come in to strengthen the fast-bowling in place of Chahar, which unfortunately leaves DJ Bravo out.
The Knight Riders might have to open with Ajinkya Rahane, who is horribly out of form, to fit all of Billings, Russell, Cummins and Narine in the side. They have roped in Australia’s white-ball captain Aaron Finch as a replacement for Alex Hales, who opted out of the IPL owing to bubble fatigue.
Getting the likes of Dhoni, Rayudu and Dube, who haven’t played a lot of cricket, early to the crease, will put the Chennai Super Kings batting line-up under pressure. Both teams will have a hard job of keeping the run-scoring in check at the death with the lack of world-class options in that phase. Off-spinners have enjoyed good success at this venue and both teams have very good options in that department in the form of Jadeja, Narine and Varun Chakravarthy.
CSK vs KKR Match Details
Match: Indian Premier League 2022, Match number 01.
Teams: Chennai Super Kings (CSK) vs Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR)
Date/Day: Saturday/26th March 2022
Venue: Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai
Time: 7:30 PM IST
CSK vs KKR Pitch Report
The pitch at the Wankhede Stadium has generally favoured the batsmen and there is no reason to suggest otherwise. The average first innings score at this venue over the last four years in T20 cricket is 174, which suggests it is a good pitch to bat on.
The captain who wins the toss will probably have to choose to bowl first, as there will be dew later on, although the stats show that the teams batting first have won 50% of the games. There will be good bounce and swing early for the fast-bowlers while the off-spinners have enjoyed decent success, conceding runs at just 7.4 per over.
CSK vs KKR Head to Head record
Total Matches Played – 26
Won by CSK – 17
Won by KKR – 8
No Result – 1
The head-to-head record is in the favor of the Chennai-based franchise, but at the start of a new season you can’t write off any team, especially in the IPL. This match might go in the favour of the Chennai Super Kings as history suggests they start strongly every season and have the team do it once again.
Follow the full IPL 2022 schedule and match predictions before you go ahead and place your cricket bets.
