With Ruturaj Gaikwad at helm, Chennai eye strong start against RCB

CSK vs RCB 2024 The highstakes match between crosscity rivals Chennai Super Kings and Royal Challengers Bengaluru here on Friday will not only usher in IPL 2024 but also a new dawn for the defending champions with iconic MS Dhoni handing over the captaincy to Ruturaj GaikwadDhoni is expected to retire at the end of this season and it seems the unanticipated move just a day before the start of new season has been taken for a smooth transitionBut beyond the emotional whirlpool that surrounds Dhoni handing over captaincy to Gaikwad CSK and RCB will have to find some early answers to some deep questions as they attempt to enter a rarefied territoryThe Super Kings are fivetime champions and a sixth title will put them in a space where no team has entered so far not even Mumbai Indians who also have five IPL trophiesOn the other hand the Royal Challengers who recently grabbed their maiden title through Womens Premier League will be eager to add a first IPL title to their shelf However they have their own challenges to masterAlso ReadStarc and Cummins to Coetzee and Patel Six IPL bigmoney buysThe Super Kings have been the torchbearers of success in the IPL under Dhoni whose IPL career has reached its final chapterWhile his cricketing brain is still immune to advancing years the passing summers have caught up with his reflexes as a batsmanSo the younger names will have to step up The CSK have placed enormous faith in new recruit Rachin Ravindra in the absence of Devon Conway who will miss the initial part of IPL due to a thumb injuryThe CSK have more Kiwi flavour in Daryl Mitchell a hardhitting middleorder batter and a handy seamerIn batting they can also look to bank on the experience of Ajinkya Rahane and the exuberance of opener Gaikwad who is entering the IPL 2024 after topscoring for Maharashtra in the Syed Mushtaq Ali TrophyIt will be interesting to see how he manages the task of leading CSK a legacy team that carries massive levels of expectations from fans every seasonHowever Gaikwad has a winning formula at his hand laid out so successfully over the years by DhoniIts the presence of a clutch of allrounders and spinners who can use the abrasive Chidambaram Stadium pitch to the hiltThe likes of Ravindra Jadeja Mitchell Santner Moeen Ali Maheesh Theekshana can make even the best dance to their tunes hereThe CSK also have two wily domestic campaigners in pacers Deepak Chahar and Shardul ThakurHowever Sri Lankan slinger Matheesha Pathirana will miss initial matches after failing to recover from a hamstring injury he suffered during the recent T20I series against BangladeshBut those little scratches on the CSK machine do not make the task of RCB any easier To understand it better RCB have not beaten CSK at this venue since 2008Skipper Faf du Plessis and star batter Virat Kohli who is returning to competitive cricket after a twomonth break will once again have to shoulder the batting responsibilityThey are set to open together but this time the addition of Cameron Green might act as a protection plan if one of them or both of them fail to get going Green can also chip in as a bowlerThen there is always Glenn Maxwell whose highreturn outings in last years World Cup might not have been forgottenThey have a mix of extreme pace and skills in the fast bowling unit through Mohammed Siraj Lockie Ferguson Alzarri Joseph Akash Deep and Reece Topley but none of them are particularly good in death over situationsThe RCB spin attack though wears a thin look in the absence of legspinner Wanindu Hasaranga who was released ahead of the auctionThey will have to hope for Maxwell to deliver the goods with his offspin but others like Karn Sharma Himanshu Sharma and Mayank Dagar are either short of match practice or untestedChennais squad for CSK vs RCB 2024 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 AravellyWith agency inputs