3 player battles to watch out for in CSK vs RCB, Match 1 of IPL 2024 

The 2024 Indian Premier League (IPL) season begins with a tantalizing encounter between defending champions the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) at the MA Chidambaram Stadium on Friday, March 22.

The buildup to the contest has been dominated by MS Dhoni, and his decision to relinquish the CSK captaincy. All eyes are set to be on Dhoni - the player and Ruturaj Gaikwad - the newly appointed skipper, while Virat Kohli's highly anticipated return also shares the spotlight to a great extent.

RCB will head into the season with a new outlook, having changed their coaching staff as well as their personnel with a busy outing at the 2024 IPL mini-auction. The franchise will be hoping that the tweak to their name brings about a change in fortune as well, and some inspiration as well from the RCB women's team winning the Women's Premier League (WPL) 2024.

The defending champions have injury issues to deal with for the first half of the season, with crucial players - Devon Conway and Matheesha Pathirana not being available. Although CSK have sufficient backup on the bench, it does increase the intrigue in terms of head-to-head battles against the opposition players.

On that note, let us take a look at three enticing player battles to watch out for in CSK vs RCB.

#1 Faf du Plessis vs Maheesh Theekshana

The surface at the Chepauk has always brought spin into play, and with Maheesh Theekshana quite capable of operating with the new ball, it should set up a fantastic matchup with RCB skipper Faf du Plessis.

The opening batter had famously earned a player of the match for his 44 run-knock off 40 deliveries last season at the Ekana Stadium, where he had to deal with an onslaught of spin bowling. The 2024 season opener might not prove to be much different, with CSK likely to field a potent finger spin trio as well.

Theekshana's accuracy and ability to extract dot balls will be the early challenge that du Plessis will have to overcome, since he is a busy customer at the crease, constantly looking for boundaries and running briskly between the wickets.

In terms of head-to-head action, the duo have not been pitted against each other a lot in T20 cricket so far. Across the three times that they have come up against one other, du Plessis has managed to score 15 runs off 12 deliveries, while losing his wicket once to the spinner.

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#2 Glenn Maxwell vs Ravindra Jadeja

The battle between Glenn Maxwell and Ravindra Jadeja has been quite well-documented over the years. It is almost inevitable that the two ace all-rounders square off against each other considering their roles for their respective sides.

What adds intrigue to their battle this time around is the red-hot form that Maxwell is in. The Australian has been functioning at his best for quite a while now, including a prolific 2023 ODI World Cup campaign, and has proceeded to score two T20I tons across his last seven T20I innings.

However, it would be foolish to dismiss Jadeja at Chepauk, as well as the dominant record he holds over Maxwell. In the 15 matches that they have come up against each other, Jadeja has dismissed Maxwell on seven occasions.

Despite the overwhelming number of dismissals, the Australian holds an excellent strike rate against the left-arm all-rounder, which reads at 143.07.

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#3 Ruturaj Gaikwad vs Mohammed Siraj

The newly-appointed CSK skipper will have a huge challenge negotiating the new-ball threat offered by Mohammed Siraj. Gaikwad is set to have a new opening partner following Conway's injury, and the RCB spearhead will be on the lookout to make early inroads as he usually does.

Siraj's sheer pace and the ability to move the ball will test Gaikwad, who is not shy to drive the ball early on. The pacer will hope to bring both edges of the bat into play while Gaikwad's intensified batting style comes across as the perfect floy, hardly leaving any room to separate the two in the crucial powerplay battle.

In terms of head-to-head record, Gaikwad has managed Siraj's threat quite well so far, being dismissed to the pacer only once in six outings, while scoring 53 runs at a strike rate of 135.89.

The opening batter always has been a firm believer in targeting specific bowlers and considering the rest of the RCB bowling attack, a conservative approach against Siraj also might be on the cards, especially if the new ball behaves under lights.

Who will win the upcoming encounter between CSK and RCB in IPL 2024? Let us know what you think.