The first Tata Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 match between Faf du Plessis’s Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) and MS Dhoni’s Chennai Super Kings (CSK) will take place on March 22, 2024, at the M.A. Chidambaram Stadium in Chepauk. This match will kick off the 17th edition of the IPL. Both teams have faced each other 31 times in the IPL: CSK have won 20 times, RCB have won 10 times, and 1 match ended without a result. In this particular venue, out of the 8 matches played between these two sides, CSK have won 7 times. RCB have not beaten CSK at the M.A. Chidambaram Stadium since 2008.
Teams winning the toss will try to bat first at this venue. Out of the 76 IPL matches played here, teams batting first have won 46 times, which is 60% of the total matches played. The pitch will be difficult to bat on in the second inning, as usual in Chepauk.
These two teams faced each other in the opening match of the IPL back in 2019 at the same venue, where CSK beat RCB comfortably by 7 wickets. RCB were bowled out for just 70 runs, which is the lowest score batting first in the IPL opener.
RCB have played 4 IPL openers till date, including the first ever IPL match against KKR, where Brendon McCullum made 158 runs out of 73 deliveries, with 13 sixes and 10 fours. RCB were all out for 82 runs in that match, handing KKR their first ever IPL victory by 140 runs. After this, they played opening matches in 2017 vs. Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH), in 2019 vs. Chennai Super Kings (CSK), and in 2021 vs. Mumbai Indians (MI). Out of 4 IPL opening matches, they have managed to win only one against the Mumbai Indians (MI).
Talking about CSK, they have played the most IPL opening matches. They have played 8 season openers so far. In 2009 vs. Mumbai Indians (MI), in 2011 vs. Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), in 2012 vs. Mumbai Indians, in 2018 vs. Mumbai Indians, in 2019 vs. Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB), in 2020 vs. Mumbai Indians (MI), in 2022 vs. Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), and in 2023 vs. Gujrat Titans (GT). CSK have emerged victorious in 4 IPL openers out of the 8 they have played.
Key Players:
RCB:
Virat Kohli will be the key batter for the RCB team against CSK; he is the highest scorer for RCB against CSK. Since 2019, against CSK, he has scored 253 runs in 9 innings with an average of 31.62 and 3 fifties.
Glenn Maxwell can be a big threat to CSK batters at the M.A. Chidambaram Stadium. In the spin-friendly venue, the off-spinner has 4 wickets against CSK with an economy of 8.23 against CSK since 2019, the most by any player against CSK from the current squad.
CSK:
RCB bowlers have to get the wicket of opener Ruturaj Gaikwad early. He was the highest scorer for CSK last season after his other opening pair, Devon Conway. He scored 590 runs in 15 innings with an average of 42 and a strike rate of 147.50 with four fifties in the 2023 season. He will miss his partner Devon Conway, who recently had surgery for a thumb injury and is expected to be out for eight weeks, although Chennai hasn’t announced a replacement for him yet.
The primary weapon of CSK with the ball will be Ravindra Jadeja, who has 30 wickets from 37 innings and an economy of less than 7 at Chepauk.
Key Battles:
Virat Kohli vs. Ravidra Jadeja will be the first battle to watch out for. Jadeja has taken 30 wickets from 42 matches with an economy of 6.92 at Chepauk. In the last four years in the IPL, Virat Kohli has just scored 36 runs against the left-arm spinner with a strike rate of just 103. Notably, Virat Kohli has a dot-ball percentage of 31.7 against left-arm-spinners and a strike rate of just 113.
Ruturaj Gaikwad vs. Mohammed Siraj in the first 6 overs will be another key battle. Starting in the 2020 IPL season, Ruturaj has scored 48 runs in 37 runs, being dismissed once in the powerplay overs against Siraj. The matter of concern for Ruturaj will be if CSK bats first; while batting first, he has just managed 18 runs in 20 balls against the medium pacer.