Preview:
IPL Fever is back and the fans are really excited and so are the players. The 15th edition of the IPL will get underway from Saturday and it will be played in Mumbai and Pune across four venues. In the repeat of the last year’s final, defending champions Chennai Super Kings will take on Kolkata Knight Riders in the inaugural match.
In a surprising event, MS Dhoni stood down from his captaincy and will be playing purely as a player for Chennai Super Kings and it’s a tough shoes to fill for Ravindra Jadeja. Overseas star, Moeen Ali has just arrived on Thursday and will miss the opener. Last year’s Orange holder Ruturaj Gaikwad will look to extend his dream run this year as well.
Kolkata Knight Riders on the other hand went with a different strategy in the mega auction and bought exciting players. Mumbai star Shreyas Iyer has been given the captaincies responsibilities. Ajinkya Rahane is likely to open along with Venkatesh Iyer. They have a win-loss record of 1-4 against CSK in the last 5 matches and look to decrease the margin of loss.
Match Details:
Chennai Super Kings vs Kolkata Knight Riders, Match 1
Venue: Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai
Date & Time: March 26th at 7:30 PM IST and local time
Live Streaming: Star Sports Network and Disney+Hotstar
CSK vs KKR, Match 1 Pitch Report:
Wankhede Stadium has hosted many epic encounters in the past. Historically the batters have looked more comfortable and hardly faced hurdles on this surface. Spinners will play a huge part in the middle overs. It’s not easy to defend the scores here and bowling first is a good option.
Injury and News:
Deepak Chahar is injured and he is out until further notice.
Also Read: Virat Kohli pays tribute to MS Dhoni after he steps down as CSK skipper
CSK vs KKR, Match 1 Probable Playing XIs:
Chennai Super Kings
Ruturaj Gaikwad, Devon Conway, Robin Uthappa, Ambati Rayudu, Ravindra Jadeja (c), MS Dhoni (wk), Shivam Dube, Dwayne Bravo, Tushar Deshpande, Chris Jordan / Maheesh Theekshana, Adam Milne
Kolkata Knight Riders
Venkatesh Iyer, Ajinkya Rahane, Nitish Rana, Shreyas Iyer (c), Sam Billings (wk), Andre Russell, Mohammad Nabi / Tim Southee, Sunil Narine, Shivam Mavi, Umesh Yadav, Varun Chakravarthy
Top Picks for CSK vs KKR Dream11 Match:
Top Picks – Batters
A lot of expectations are on Ruturaj Gaikwad after being retained by Chennai. He is always pleasing to the eyes and scored runs consistently in the last edition. He was the top run-scorer in the previous edition with 635 runs in 16 matches.
Kolkata Knight Riders poured Nitish Rana a huge amount of 8 crores in this year’s auction. He has mustered 383 runs in 16 innings last year at an average of 29.46 with the highest score of 80.
Top Picks – All-Rounders
Ravindra Jadeja will be a first-choice pick in the all-rounder’s slot. He has been in a fabulous nick and worked a lot on his batting which makes him even more dangerous in this format. He had a perfect last year where he picked up 13 wickets and scored 227 runs.
Andre Russell has huge backing from the Kolkata team management for the talent that he exhibits. He brings a lot of firepower in the middle and can bowl at any stage of the match.
Top Picks – Bowlers
Adam Milne is likely to bowl with the new cherry for Chennai Super Kings. He has played for Mumbai Indians and Royal Challengers Bangalore in the past. In his 9 IPL matches, he has scalped 7 wickets with the best figures of 2 for 21.
Varun Chakravarthy is good at containing runs and he is one of those net bowlers who went on to play for India at the highest level. He was the top wicket-taker for Knight Riders in the last edition with 18 wickets in 17 matches.
Top Picks – Wicketkeepers
Sam Billings is a good player of spin which is an added advantage for the overseas wicketkeeper batter in the Indian sub-continent. In his 19 IPL innings, he has scored 334 runs which include 3 half-centuries.
CSK vs KKR Must Picks for Dream11 Fantasy Cricket:
| Player | Statistics (Last Edition) |
| Ruturaj Gaikwad | 635 runs |
| Ravindra Jadeja | 13 wickets and 227 runs |
| Venkatesh Iyer | 370 runs and 3 wickets |
| Nitish Rana | 383 runs |
| Varun Chakravarthy | 18 wickets |
Suggested Playing XI No.1 for CSK vs KKR Dream11 Fantasy Cricket:
Sam Billings, Devon Conway, Shreyas Iyer, Nitish Rana, Ruturaj Gaikwad (c), Ravindra Jadeja, Andre Russell, Venkatesh Iyer (vc), Dwayne Bravo, Adam Milne, Varun Chakravarthy
Suggested Playing XI No.2 for CSK vs KKR Dream11 Fantasy Cricket:
Sam Billings, Ajinkya Rahane, Ambati Rayudu, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Ravindra Jadeja (c), Andre Russell (vc), Venkatesh Iyer, Shivam Dube, Shivam Mavi, Varun Chakravarthy, Maheesh Theekshana
CSK vs KKR Risky Captaincy Choices:
Devon Conway was picked purely on the basis of his batting skills by Chennai Super Kings. He will be making his debut in the IPL and you can take a risk and pick him as your fantasy team skipper.
Shreyas Iyer missed the major part of the season for Delhi Capitals last year due to an injury. He managed to score 175 runs in 8 matches at an average of 35 without a half-century. He is a risky captaincy pick for your fantasy teams.
Player you should avoid:
MS Dhoni lacks exposure in recent times after his retirement from international cricket. He managed to score 114 runs in the last season at an average of 16.28. It’s better to avoid him while making your fantasy teams.
