Indian T20 League 2024: Chennai vs Bangalore, Match 1 – MPL Opinio Today’s Match Prediction

Ruturaj Gaikwad has replaced MS Dhoni as the captain of Chennai.

By Ankit Anand

Published – 21 Mar 2024, 19:17 IST | Updated – 21 Mar 2024, 19:44 IST

4 Min Read

MS Dhoni and Ruturaj Gaikwad.( Photo source : X / Twitter )40

Preview

The 2024 edition of the Indian T20 League will start with the southern derby as Chennai will take on Bangalore at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai. Chennai will walk into this game as the defending champions. They defeated Gujarat in the final last season by five wickets. Bangalore finished in sixth place last season with seven wins and losses each. They failed to make it to the playoffs after suffering a defeat in their last league stage game against Gujarat.

Both teams made some interesting moves at the auction table during the mini auction. Chennai released a total of eight players from their squad of last season. They bought the Kiwi duo of Rachin Ravindra and Daryl Mitchell for INR 1.8 crore and 14 crore, respectively. Chennai shelled out INR four crore for Shardul Thakur and INR two crore for Mustafizur Rahman. They went after UP-born Sameer Rizvi and spent INR 8.4 crore for him.

Bangalore released almost the entire bowling unit before heading into the mini auction. They traded Shahbaz Ahmed to Hyderabad and got Mayank Dagar in return. Bangalore strengthened their pace bowling unit by bringing in Alzarri Joseph, Yash Dayal, Tom Curran, and Lockie Ferguson.

Head to Head

Chennai and Bangalore have played a total of 31 matches so far against each other. Chennai have dominated Bangalore with 21 wins, while Bangalore have been victorious on 10 occasions.

The last time these two teams squared off against each other in Chepauk in the season opener of 2019 edition. Bangalore were bundled out for just 70 runs in that game and Chennai won by seven wickets. Chennai have won four out of the last five matches against Bangalore.

Probable Playing XIs

Chennai

Rachin Ravindra, Ruturaj Gaikwad (c), Ajinkya Rahane, Daryl Mitchell, Shivam Dube, Ravindra Jadeja, Mahendra Singh Dhoni (wk), Shardul Thakur, Deepak Chahar, Mukesh Choudhary, Maheesh Theekshana

Bangalore

Faf du Plessis (c), Virat Kohli, Rajat Patidar, Glenn Maxwell, Cameron Green, Dinesh Karthik (wk), Mayank Dagar, Vijaykumar Vyshak, Alzarri Joseph, Mohammed Siraj, Karn Sharma

Pitch Report

The surface at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai might have a lot for both batters and bowlers. The square and straight boundaries are similar in length. The average first innings score in the last 10 T20 matches here has been 171 runs. The teams batting first have posted a total in excess of 150 runs in three out of the last five matches here. The team winning the toss might prefer to bat in this game. Chennai have won five out of the last eight matches they have played here. Bangalore have won their last three matches at this venue.

Key Player Battles

Ruturaj Gaikwad vs Bangalore’s bowlers

The newly appointed skipper has a strong record against Bangalore. He has scored 47 runs off 25 deliveries he has faced from Alzarri Joseph. Against Yash Dayal, Gaikwad has made 47 runs off 25 deliveries. Both the pacers have dismissed Gaikwad once.

He has made 53 runs against Mohammed Siraj and has faced 39 deliveries from him. He has made 56 runs against Lockie Ferguson’s 29 deliveries he has faced so far. He has a strike rate of around 400 against Glenn Maxwell.

Virat Kohli vs Chennai’s bowlers

Kohli has made nine half-centuries against Chennai so far. Among the current Chennai bowlers, Moeen Ali, Mukesh Choudhary, and Deepak Chahar are the only ones who have dismissed Kohli in T20s so far. However, he has struggled to score runs against Ravindra Jadeja and has made only 36 runs off 35 deliveries against him in the last five years.

Kohli has made 40 runs off 27 deliveries against Chahar and 39 runs off 24 deliveries against Shardul Thakur.

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