IPL 2024: Bengaluru look to break Chennai jinx

The Royal Challengers Bengaluru men will resume their quest for the elusive T20 trophy when they kick off their IPL campaign against defending champions Chennai Super Kings on Friday.

Bengaluru: Buoyed by the success of women, the more exalted Royal Challengers Bengaluru men will resume their quest for the elusive T20 trophy when they kick off their IPL campaign against defending champions Chennai Super Kings on Friday.

One of the marquee clashes in the IPL owing to the historical rivalry the neighbouring Karnataka and Tamil Nadu share, fans from either side of the border and neutrals couldn’t have hoped for a better way to begin Season 17 which promises more thrill and entertainment despite the country being in the throws of general elections.  

It’s safe to say, the Royal Challengers will start underdogs at the MA Chidambaram Stadium that is sure to be bathed in yellow. Although CSK’s talismanic MS Dhoni, who handed over the captaincy to Ruturaj Gaikwad on the eve of the tournament, himself once described the clashes against RCB and Mumbai Indians as ‘heavyweight battles’, it’s five-time champions Super Kings who have mostly called the shots against the under-performing Royal Challengers.

In 31 times RCB and CSK have locked horns, the latter have triumphed on 20 occasions. And here’s another telling statistic: the last time RCB managed to tame CSK at Chepauk — which is nothing but a fortress for the hosts —  was way back in the inaugural season in 2008. It’s this weight of history RCB will be trying to offload on Friday.

Once again they’ll be depending on their batters to deliver the goods. For the longest of time, RCB depended heavily on the triumvirate of Chris Gayle, Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers to score the bulk of the runs. The batting was extremely top heavy and if one or two failed, the rest would just surrender meekly. Things have changed now following the exits of Gayle and de Villiers and it’s this all-round solidity that makes RCB a potent side.

Skipper and opener Faf du Plessis has been aging like fine wine, Kohli is a king in pacing chases, Rajat Patidar has shown over the last couple of seasons what a brilliant talent he is, the big-hitting Glenn Maxwell is batting like a dream since his return from injury last year while the highly rated Cameron Green provides the X factor lower down the order. Add the experience of Dinesh Karthik, who can play those game-changing cameos, RCB have ammunition to deliver.

It’s the bowling, especially the spin department, that’s a big concern for them. They released Wanindu Hasaranga last year but inexplicably failed to find a suitable replacement at the auctions.  

The genuine spinners in the dugout are Karn Sharma, Swapnil Singh, Himanshu Sharma and Mayank Dagar, and with no disrespect, they are not in the league of Hasaranga or Yuzvendra Chahal, who rose to fame with his exploits for RCB. Part-timer but the street-smart Maxwell will have to carry bulk of the spin load but the lack of a world-class option could really hurt them, especially in the middle-overs.

The spotlight on Friday is certain to be on Dhoni despite the ‘Thala’ relinquishing captaincy duties which could very well mean this may be his final season. The 42-year-old, who underwent knee surgery soon after last season’s IPL, had hinted that he’ll be seen in a different role and the CSK faithful are sure to follow him considering the end is near.

While there are going to to be a lot of emotions, which were witnessed even last season, Dhoni is too pragmatic to make it all about himself. Time now for Gaikwad to take it forward. 

Cut-off box - RCB squad
Faf du Plessis Rajat Patidar Virat Kohli Anuj Rawat Dinesh Karthik Suyash S Prabhudesai Will Jacks Saurav Chauhan Glenn Maxwell Mahipal Lomror Karn Sharma Cameron Green Swapnil Singh Mayank Dagar Manoj Bhandage Akash Deep Alzarri Joseph Lockie Ferguson Mohammed Siraj Yash Dayal Tom Curran Reece Topley Himanshu Sharma Rajan Kumar Vyshak Vijaykumar.