Ruturaj Gaikwad made his captaincy debut in the Indian Premier League (IPL) on Friday, leading a star-studded Chennai Super Kings (CSK) featuring the likes of Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Moeen Ali in the 2024 season lung opener against Royal Challengers Bangalore at the iconic Chepauk, Chennai. The batting talent did the honours of spinning the coin, but lost his first toss as his rival number Faf du Plessis called it right and opted bat first. (Match Blog | Scorecard | Full Coverage)
CSK have dominated this blockbuster fixture, winning 20 out of 31 played so far. And Gaikwad will look to start his captaincy reign with a win. In the Faf du Plessis-led RCB, however, the five-time champions will face a litmus test. RCB have often been levelled the eternal bridesmaids of the world's richest T20 cricket league, still carrying an empty cabinet trophy. In Chennai, RCB have won only once, way back in 2008.
But RCB have always been one of the title contenders, every single season. This time too, they boast a squad capable of lifting the trophy. One player in focus is their former captain, Virat Kohli. A powerful knock from the batting great, who was making a return, would set the tone.
With that, here's a look at the playing XIs
CSK: Ruturaj Gaikwad (c), Rachin Ravindra, Ajinkya Rahane, Daryl Mitchell, Ravindra Jadeja, Sameer Rizvi, MS Dhoni (wk), Deepak Chahar, Maheesh Theekshana, Mustafizur Rahman, Tushar Deshpande.
RCB: Faf du Plessis (c), Virat Kohli, Rajat Patidar, Glenn Maxwell, Cameron Green, Dinesh Karthik, Anuj Rawat (wk), Karn Sharma, Alzarri Joseph, Mayank Dagar, Mohammed Siraj
"Feel privledged [to be leading CSK]," said Gaikwad at the toss. "But I want to try and be in my shoes, not fill anybody's shoes. I got to know last week, but Mahi bhai hinted at it last year. Everyone is experienced here"
Faf du Plessis, who had earlier turned for CSK, expressed hailed the Chennai fans. "First time back here, great to see the Chennai fans again but I'm here with RCB," the South African said. "Hopefully we can turn over a very good CSK team."
Squads
Chennai Super Kings: Ruturaj Gaikwad (C), MS Dhoni, Moeen Ali, Deepak Chahar, Tushar Deshpande, Shivam Dube, Rajvardhan Hangargekar, Ravindra Jadeja, Ajay Mandal, Mukesh Choudhary, Ajinkya Rahane, Shaik Rasheed, Mitchell Santner, Simarjeet Singh, Nishant Sindhu, Prashant Solanki, Maheesh Theekshana, Rachin Ravindra, Shardul Thakur, Daryl Mitchell, Sameer Rizvi, Mustafizur Rahman and Avanish Rao Aravelly.
Royal Challengers Bangalore: Faf du Plessis (c), Glenn Maxwell, Virat Kohli, Rajat Patidar, Anuj Rawat, Dinesh Karthik, Suyash Prabhudessai, Will Jacks, Mahipal Lomror, Karn Sharma, Manoj Bhandage, Mayank Dagar, Vijaykumar Vyshak, Akash Deep, Mohammed Siraj, Reece Topley, Himanshu Sharma, Rajan Kumar, Cameron Green, Alzarri Joseph, Yash Dayal, Tom Curran, Lockie Ferguson, Swapnil Singh and Saurav Chauhan.
