Monday’s high-profile Indian Premier League (IPL) match between Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) and four-time champion Chennai Super Kings (CSK), which will also feature a match between Virat Kohli and MS Dhoni, two of Indian cricket’s biggest stars in the modern era, is expected to draw a large crowd to M Chinnaswammy Stadium.
The ferocious bowling spells and spectacular knocks that these two South Indian sides have produced against one another, this rivalry has generated many exciting matches, given birth to many stars, and reinforced the legend status of many greats. The IPL so far has seen 30 clashes between the two teams. Of them, CSK has triumphed in 19 games, while RCB has triumphed in 10. One game ended without a winner. CSK has historically been a better team with a win percentage of 65.5%.
However, in their previous meeting during the IPL 2022, RCB emerged victorious by 13 runs, with Harshal Patel (3 of 35) helping RCB defend a target of 174 runs. Something worth looking at is how Virat and Dhoni, two of the biggest stars of their respective franchises and Indian cricket in general, have performed against each other’s teams.
Dhoni has scored a lot of runs against the RCB. In the 29 matches he has played for CSK against RCB, he has scored 739 runs in 27 innings at an average of 43.47. He has also scored four half-centuries for CSK against RCB, with a best score of 84*. Virat has also produced some superb knocks against CSK. He has the second-highest number of runs of any player from any side against CSK. In 30 matches, he has scored 979 runs at an average of 39.16. He has scored nine half-centuries against the four-time champions with a best score of 90*.
Ravindra Jadeja has taken the most wickets against the RCB of any bowler from any side, a total of 26. Out of these 26 wickets, 18 have come while being a part of CSK. Jadeja has also taken wickets while playing for the Gujarat Lions, Kochi Tuskers, Kerala, and Rajasthan Royals against the RCB. For RCB, Harshal Patel has taken a total of 12 wickets against CSK out of his 13 wickets against the four-time champions. Faf Du Plessis, a former CSK star and now the RCB skipper, will be looking to come good against his former franchise, having managed only 46 runs in two matches against the four-time champions with a best score of 38. It will be extremely important for these aforementioned stars to perform if their team is to win.
While RCB has its dangerous trio of Virat Kohli, Faf Du Plessis, and Glenn Maxwell, as well as spinner Wanindu Hasanranga and pacer Josh Hazlewood as their biggest strengths, CSK has a strong opening pair in Ruturaj Gaikwad and the ever-consistent Devon Conway to send the ball into the skies from ball one. Their all-rounders like Moeen Ali, Mitchell Santner, and Ravindra Jadeja can create issues for RCB with their spin, something that RCB has struggled with lately as evident in recent matches. Some massive sixes from MS Dhoni can also change the course of the match at any point.
Currently, CSK is in sixth place in the points table with two wins and two losses for four points total. RCB also has a similar win-loss record as CSK in their four matches, but they are in seventh place with an inferior net run rate.
Royal Challengers Bangalore Squad: Virat Kohli, Faf du Plessis(c), Mahipal Lomror, Glenn Maxwell, Shahbaz Ahmed, Dinesh Karthik(w), Wanindu Hasaranga, Harshal Patel, Wayne Parnell, Vijaykumar Vyshak, Mohammed Siraj, Anuj Rawat, David Willey, Akash Deep, Karn Sharma, Suyash Prabhudessai, Manoj Bhandage, Michael Bracewell, Finn Allen, Siddarth Kaul, Sonu Yadav, Rajan Kumar, Avinash Singh, Himanshu Sharma
Chennai Super Kings Squad: Devon Conway, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Ajinkya Rahane, Moeen Ali, Shivam Dube, Ravindra Jadeja, MS Dhoni(w/c), Sisanda Magala, Maheesh Theekshana, Tushar Deshpande, Akash Singh, Ambati Rayudu, Mitchell Santner, Shaik Rasheed, Subhranshu Senapati, RS Hangargekar, Dwaine Pretorius, Ben Stokes, Ajay Jadav Mandal, Prashant Solanki, Simarjeet Singh, Matheesha Pathirana, Deepak Chahar, Bhagath Varma, Nishant Sindhu.