Chennai Super Kings vs Kolkata Knight Riders - Tactical Preview

The opening match of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022 will be played between defending champions Chennai Super Kings(CSK) and runners-up Kolkata Knight Riders(KKR) on 26th March. 

Both teams have been reshuffled will have to make new plans for the brand new season. While Ravindra Jadeja will lead CSK in his first stint as captain after MS Dhoni stepped down from the role, KKR too will have a new captain in Shreyas Iyer. 

CSK have always played with a safe template. They begin their inning safely. In the first half of the 20 overs - Chennai score nearly 7.5 runs an over. In the powerplay, in IPL 2021, CSK had a run rate of 7.16, averaged 46.07, and had 38.6 balls per dismissal. Similarly, from 7-11 overs, they average 40.87 while scoring at 7.66. 

In the second half, CSK increase their attacking intent. From 12-16 overs, CSK batting average was 22 and balls per dismissal 16 - showing the attacking intent. In the following slog overs, they average 31.67 and score at a run rate of 11.7. 

KKR was a bit inconsistent last season with the bat. Things weren't steady for them and they couldn't push the scoring rate as per their will. In 1-6, KKR scored at 7.47; from 7-11 - 7.32; from 12-16, 8.11; and 17-20, 7.43. 

Key Players - CSK vs KKR 

Ruturaj Gaikwad - In the last season, Gaikwad was the architect of CSK's batting order. He timed his innings to perfection - played steadily in the first half and hammered the bowlers in the second. 

In powerplay, one way is to attack him with a left-arm pace(11 avg, 86.27 sr - 52.9 dot ball%) and put pressure on him with right arm pace(49 dot ball%). In the following five overs, bowl right-arm leg-spin, Gaikwad averages 29 against that type of bowling at a strike rate of 105 - a dot percentage of 34.5. 

However, once he goes past this, there's no stopping him. He increases his run-scoring as well and hammers every type of bowling. 

Devon Conway - CSK acquired the explosive New Zealand opener Devon Conway at 1 crore INR in the IPL mega auction 2022 as a replacement for Faf du Plessis. The 30-year old has amassed 3,765 runs in 115 matches at an average of 43.77. The left-handed batter is expected to give explosive starts to the defending champions with previous season's orange cap winner Ruturaj Gaikwad. 

Andre Russell - Is one of the most hard-hitting batters in the T20 format. However, if KKR's batting once again falters like that in the last season, Russell can be strangled against a leg break. Russell's problem is the difficulty in building an inning. Strangle him early on and he will either smack the team all through the inning or get out early. 

Shreyas Iyer - He is the perfect anchor. Shreyas starts very slowly, especially against pace. He hammers spin bowling though. Attack him vs high pace and he will struggle in the first half. 

Probable Playing XI - CSK vs KKR 

Chennai Super Kings - Ruturaj Gaikwad, Devon Conway, Robin Uthappa, Ambati Rayudu, Shivam Dube, MS Dhoni, Ravindra Jadeja, Rajvardhan Hangargekar, Adam Milne, Dwayne Bravo, Tushar Deshpande

Also Read: IPL 2022 - Schedule & Squad

Kolkata Knight Riders - Venkatesh Iyer, Ajinkya Rahane, Nitish Rana, Shreyas Iyer (c), Sam Billings (wk), Andre Russell, Tim Southee, Sunil Narine, Shivam Mavi, Umesh Yadav, Varun Chakravarthy