Just hours before the teams reported for training on the eve of the IPL 2024 season opener, Ruturaj Gaikwad, the previous opening partner of Plessis, was named CSK‘s captain, taking MS Dhoni’s place.
Faf du Plessis’ incredible performance just one month ago qualified the Johannesburg Super Kings for the SA20 playoffs. And in four months, he will be back in the yellow uniform for the Texas Super Kings, partnering with head coach Stephen Fleming. Their history dates back to 2011, when du Plessis was signed by Chennai Super Kings before he had even represented South Africa in international cricket.
However, du Plessis has currently given up his yellow second skin in favor of Royal Challengers Bengaluru‘s red and blue for the rest of this IPL. He was once a fan favorite at Chepauk and on Friday, he will make his debut as the captain of the RCB in Chennai.
Given that the odds are stacked against RCB in Chennai, Gaikwad has a proud record to protect. They had previously defeated CSK at Chepauk during Fleming’s playing days in the inaugural IPL season (2008). RCB has since suffered seven straight losses. That RCB forced CSK to work till the 18th over of their winning chase was because to Moeen Ali and Yuzvendra Chahal.
While Moeen may bat alongside three other spinners on Friday against the Royals (Maheesh Theekshana, Ravindra Jadeja, and part-timer Rachin Ravindra) on what may be another slow pitch, Chahal is currently with the Rajasthan Royals. On the other hand, Mayank Dagar (left-arm fingerspin), Himanshu Sharma (mystery spin), Karn Sharma (legspin), and Swapnil Singh (left-arm fingerspin) are the only choices available to the RCB team in terms of elite spinners. IPL 2024, it appears that RCB has thrown all of its eggs into one basket—both at home and abroad.
Venue : MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai
CSK Possible XI : Rachin Ravindra, Ruturaj Gaikwad(C), Ajinkya Rahane, Sameer Rizvi, Daryl Mitchell, Shivam Dube, Ravindra Jadeja, MS Dhoni, Shardul Thakur, Deepak Chahar, Maheesh Theekshana
RCB Possible XI : Faf du Plessis, Virat Kohli, Rajat Patidar, Glenn Maxwell, Cameron Green, Suyash Prabhudesai, Dinesh Karthik (wk), Reece Topley, Karn Sharma, Mohammed Siraj, Vijaykumar Vyshak
