Super Kings take on Kolkata in opener

On the face of it, the battle between IPL’s most successful team and the most under-achieving team may not exactly set the pulse racing, but such is the nature of Twenty20 cricket that nothing comes with a warranty card. As has been proven oftentimes in its brief history, all it takes is one blistering cameo or a couple of tidy overs to change the course of a T20 game.

Saying that, hosts Chennai start with their noses in front, even if slightly, against a new-look Kolkata. The Super Kings’ tag of favourites doesn’t merely come because they will be playing in front of their home fans but because they have perhaps the most balanced team of all. More importantly, it’s almost the same side that has been together for the last three years and, apart from Mumbai Indians and Rajasthan Royals, this is the only team which will have the same man at the helm.

It’s hard to miss Dhoni’s influence in Chennai’s super success. Captain Cool guided CSK to the final in the inaugural year and to the semifinals of the second season in South Africa, before piloting them to the title last year in Mumbai. By winning the Champions League T20 in South Africa the same year, he made it a memorable double for CSK.
     
As impressive as Dhoni has been with his leadership skills, his support cast too has been no less effective. Suresh Raina and Murali Vijay (both retained along with Dhoni and Albie Morkel) have been prolific with the bat while Protean all-rounder Morkel has helped them strike balance in team composition. Throw in Michael Hussey and S Badrinath, and the batting appears formidable.

Best T20 bowler

In R Ashwin, they have perhaps the best T20 bowler in the country. The off-spinner began his journey towards stardom in IPL last with his economic ways even during power plays and since then, his stature has only grown. Having lost Aussie paceman Doug Bollinger to injury and L Balaji in the auction, Super Kings look thin on fast-bowling resources, though they have tried to make up for the loss by appending Kiwi paceman Tim Southee.   
     
With a new skipper at the helm, Knight Riders hope to bring about a change in their fortunes. KKR, who have the dubious distinction of being the only IPL team of the original eight sides not to have made it to the semis even once, spent a large part of their fortune on buying Gambhir and obviously the expectations from the left-hander will be high.

Where CSK have managed to hold on to their key players, KKR have gone for a major shake-up, excluding even the likes of Sourav Ganguly and Chris Gayle. With the marauding Yusuf Pathan, Protean Jacques Kallis, Manoj Tiwary, England batsman Eoin Morgan and Aussie wicketkeeper-batsman Brad Haddin in their ranks, KKR have a sound batting line-up though the same can’t be said of their bowling. Brett Lee of course can be lethal and and when he arrives, and Balaji and Kallis can be handy, but is that good enough to contain a line-up as strong as Super Kings?

Teams (from):

Chennai Super Kings: MS Dhoni (capt), M Vijay, Anirudha Srikkanth Suresh Raina, S Badrinath, Michael Hussey, Albie Morkel, Francois du Plessis, Wriddhiman Saha, R Ashwin, George Bailey, Scott Styris, Tim Southee, Ben Hilfenhaus, Sudeep Tyagi, Joginder Sharma, Nuwan Kulsekara, Suraj Randiv, Shadab Jakati, V Yo Mahesh, K Vasudevadas, G Vignesh.   

Kolkata Knight Riders: Gautam Gambhir (capt), Jacques Kallis, Manoj Tiwary, Eoin Morgan, Yusuf Pathan, Ryan ten Doeschate, Brad Haddin, Laxmi Ratan Shukla, L Balaji, Pradeep Sangwan. Shakib Al Hasan, Jaidev Unadkat, Sarabjit Ladda, Iqbal Abdulla, Rajat Bhatia, Manvinder Bisla, Shreevats Goswami. 

Match hours: 8.00 pm onwards.