The 15th Edition of the Indian Premier League will commence from March 26; the first encounter will be played between the finalist teams of the last season(CSK and KKR). Yesterday, Chennai Super Kings announced their new skipper for the season, ‘Ravindra Jadeja’. The Kolkata Knight Riders will also walk in under the new leadership of Shreyas Iyer. In the final of IPL 2021, CSK had defeated Kolkata Knight Riders by 27 runs and lifted the trophy. Now, KKR will look to take the avenge in the first clash of the tournament.
Both the teams had played 26 matches in the total, while Chennai has dominated the proceedings by winning 17 games. At the same time, KKR has only succeeded in conquering 8 games of the rivalry.
Let’s look at the predictions, playing XI’s, pitch report, fantasy tips, and weather forecast.
Match Predictions
The Wankhede stadium is known for its high-scoring encounters, especially the team batting in 1st innings, usually putting up big scores. In the last 13 matches, the team which has chased the target has won 10 out of 13 games.
Due to the luxury of mega scoring on these venues, flamboyant batters like Shreyas Iyer, Ruturaj Gaikwad, & Venkatesh Iyer may have a good day in the middle.
While, the stalwart spinners like skipper Ravindra Jadeja, Sunil Narine & Varun Chakravarthy can make a good impact after harnessing the bounce & turn.
Probable Playing XI of CSK & KKR
Chennai will step in at Wankhede stadium for the first time without MS Dhoni’s leadership. The new skipper Ravindra Jadeja will lead the team from the front. The absence of Moeen Ali (for the first game) and Deepak Chahar (for the first few games) will see the new entry Devon Conway getting his IPL debut likely.
While on the other side, Shreyas Iyer will captain his new franchise Kolkata Knight Riders. He has spoken about continuing with the attack-first approach of KKR, and one has to wait and see how it works for the Kolkata-based franchise.
Let’s try to design the probable playing XI for both the teams:
Playing XI For CSK: Ruturaj Gaikwad, Robin Uthappa, Devon Conway(✈️), Ambati Rayudu, Shivam Dube, MS Dhoni(W), Ravindra Jadeja(C), Dwayne Bravo(✈️), Rajvardhan Hangargekar, Adam Milne(✈️), Chris Jordan(✈️).
Playing XI For KKR: Venkatesh Iyer, Ajinkya Rahane, Nitish Rana, Shreyas Iyer(C), Sam Billings(W/✈️), Andre Russell(✈️), Sunil Narine(✈️), Chamika Karunaratne (✈️), Shivam Mavi, Varun Chakravarthy, Umesh Yadav.
Pitch Report Of Wankhede Stadium
The Pitch of Wankhede stadium is carved with red soil. It has extra bounce & pace, which could help both the extravagant pacers & the spinners. But, the spinners don’t have too much roleplay in the first half because the pitch does deteriorate more in the second half instead of the first one. The first half could have favored fast bowlers, as this new surface assists the pacers decently with the swing and bounce. Though from the above depiction, the batting seems a bit difficult but the short boundaries & the quick outfield make it comparatively easy during the game.
Weather Forecast during CSK vs KKR match
The clouds will be clear, and the day will be sunny, which may absorb the moisture from the pitch. The temperature will stay warm as it counts at 26°minimum & 33° maximum, and the humidity will get plunged at 69%, according to Worldweatheronline.com. And, as Mumbai city is a coastal region, the dew may make its entrance during the second half of the game.
Fantasy Tips For The Game
- Chennai Super Kings is looking more staggered at the moment as compared to the naive skipper leading Kolkata Knight Riders. So, picking up most assets from the CSK side would be a good bet to play with.
- In comparison, the spinners of KKR are more dexterous than CSK, so they must be picked up wisely. If we talk about batting, then similar batters from both teams will increase the chances of winning more.
- The choice of skippers should be between Shreyas Iyer, Ruturaj Gaikwad, or Venkatesh Iyer as the trio is in the exquisite touch in their previous games.
- Try to cover the areas where most fantasy points arrive from both sides – the all-rounding options from KKR and the top-order batting of CSK.
Dream11 Team
Thanks for reading!
