Key match-ups, squad lists, head-to-head record, weather forecast, prediction, odds, form guide and more ahead of the first game of the 2022 Indian Premier League
Chennai Super Kings take on Kolkata Knight Riders in the Indian Premier League.
The game will be played on Saturday, March 26. The first ball will be bowled at 7:30pm local time (2pm GMT).
The game will be held at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.
The IPL opener sees a rematch of the 2021 final, which Chennai Super Kings won by 27 runs.
CSK also won both of the group stage meetings between the two sides, triumphing by 18 runs in Mumbai and two wickets in Abu Dhabi, and lead the head to head 18-9.
Both sides are under new leadership in 2022, with Shreyas Iyer replacing Eoin Morgan - who didn't receive a contract - at KKR and MS Dhoni handing over the reins to Ravindra Jadeja at CSK.
Ravindra Jadeja will captain CSK in 2022 [Robert Cianflone/Getty Images]
CSK are expected to feature a slightly new-look top four compared to last season in their opening match, with Faf du Plessis moving on to RCB and Moeen Ali's arrival in India delayed by visa issues.
Devon Conway will likely open the batting with Ruturaj Gaikwad while Ambati Rayudu will jump up to No.4 behind Robin Uthappa. And the addition of the former in particular means CSK have lost little of their batting power.
The New Zealander, who is yet to feature in an IPL match, boasts a T20 average of 43.77 and a strike rate of 128.14.
However, scoring is not guaranteed against KRR, with part-timer Venkatesh Iyer, Sunil Narine and Shivam Mavi - their three most economical bowlers in the final - in the squad once again in 2022.
Narine, in particular, caused problems, taking two wickets for 26 runs and conceding just one boundary despite du Plessis, Moeen and Uthappa all scoring at strike rates in excess of 145.
Can he keep last season's orange cap Gaikwad (635 runs at 45.35) and Conway quiet?
Matches played: 27
Chennai Super Kings wins: 18
Kolkata Knight Riders wins: 9
Dry conditions and temperatures hovering around the high 20s are expected in Mumbai on Saturday evening.
Chennai Super Kings: Ravindra Jadeja, MS Dhoni, Moeen Ali, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Robin Uthappa, Dwayne Bravo, Ambati Rayudu, Deepak Chahar, KM Asif, Tushar Deshpande, Shivam Dube, Maheesh Theekshana, Rajvardhan Hangargekar, Simarjeet Singh, Devon Conway, Dwaine Pretorius, Mitchell Santner, Adam Milne, Subhranshu Senapati, Mukesh Choudhary, Prashant Solanki, C Hari Nishaanth, N Jagadeesan, Chris Jordan, K Bhagath Varma
Kolkata Knight Riders: Sunil Narine, Andre Russell, Varun Chakravarthy, Venkatesh Iyer, Pat Cummins, Nitish Rana, Shreyas Iyer, Shivam Mavi, Sheldon Jackson, Ajinkya Rahane, Rinku Singh, Anukul Roy, Rasikh Dar, Baba Indrajith, Chamika Karunaratne, Abhijeet Tomar, Pratham Singh, Ashok Sharma, Sam Billings, Aaron Finch, Tim Southee, Ramesh Kumar, Mohammad Nabi, Umesh Yadav
Shreyas Iyer will captain KKR in 2022 [Pankaj Nangia/Getty Images]
Chennai Super Kings: Ruturaj Gaikwad, Devon Conway, Robin Uthappa, Ambati Rayudu, Ravindra Jadeja, MS Dhoni, Shivam Dube, Dwayne Bravo, Tushar Deshpande, Chris Jordan, Adam Milne
Kolkata Knight Riders: Venkatesh Iyer, Ajinkya Rahane, Nitish Rana, Shreyas Iyer, Sam Billings, Andre Russell, Tim Southee, Sunril Narine, Shivam Mavi, Umesh Yadav, Varun Chakravarthy
Oddschecker have a Chennai Super Kings win at 1/1 while Kolkata Knight Riders are available at 10/11.
The loss of Faf du Plessis and absences of Moeen Ali (visa issues) and Deepak Chahar (injury) are blows for CSK but Jadeja's side should have the experience and depth of talent to extend their successful run against KKR.
In the UK, Sky Sports have exclusive rights to this year's tournament, with matches available on Sky Sports Main Event and Sky Sports Cricket.
Fans in India can watch all of the action on Star Sports.
Elsewhere in the world, viewers in Australia can watch the IPL on Fox Sports while in New Zealand, Sky Sport will provide coverage.
Willow TV and Flow Sports will broadcast the tournament in the United States and the Caribbean, respectively.
Fans in MENA can catch the action on beIN Sports while in South Africa, SuperSport have the rights.
The IPL can also be streamed on Disney + Hotstar.
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