The IPL, or the Maha Kumbh of cricket, will begin today. The first match will take place at Wankhede Stadium at 7:30 p.m. between last year’s champions Chennai Super Kings and Kolkata Knight Riders. Two days before the match, the Chennai team underwent a significant change. Mahendra Singh Dhoni, the team’s captain for the past 14 years, will no longer be in charge. In Dhoni’s absence, all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja has taken over as captain.
This will be the first time the Chennai team has played without Dhoni as captain since April 26, 2019. Dhoni was unable to play in the first two matches of the 2019 season due to injury, so Suresh Raina captained the team.
Iyer will be the captain of KKR
When it comes to Kolkata, the team will be led by new captain Shreyas Iyer. Last season, Eoin Morgan of England led the team, but no team joined him in the auction this year. Iyer has captained Delhi and led the team to the finals of the 2020 World Cup.
In the first match, Kolkata has the upper hand.
Chennai has played the first 12 matches of the IPL 12 times, winning six and losing six. When it comes to Kolkata, on the other hand, the KKR have won 10 of their 14 opening matches. From 2013 to 2019, Kolkata won their first seven matches in a row. Mumbai Indians defeated Kolkata by 49 runs in 2020. The first match of the IPL had only been played once before, in 2011, between Chennai and Kolkata. This match was won by Chennai by two runs.
In the IPL, there have been 28 matches between the two teams so far. In 18 games, Chennai has won. Kolkata has won 9 games at the same time. A match between the two has ended in a stalemate. The last time both teams played against each other was on October 15, 2021. The Chennai team won by 27 runs in this match.
How will both teams’ starting XIs look?
Deepak Chahar and Moeen Ali, two key members of Chennai’s team, will be absent from the IPL’s first match. Deepak was paid 14 crores to be a part of the team, but he was injured in the home series against the West Indies.
He is not yet a member of the team in this situation. Because Moeen Ali’s visa is late, he is running late with the team. In this case, he will be unable to participate in the first match. Deepak could be replaced by Rajvardhan Hungargekar, and Moeen Ali could be replaced by Adam Milne.
When it comes to the first match in Kolkata, Ajinkya Rahane and Venkatesh Iyer will bat. Sam Billings has the ability to bat as a wicketkeeper batsman.
