Indian Premier League returns to the MA Chidambaram stadium in Chennai after a lengthy break when home-team Chennai Super Kings take the field on April 9. While N Srinivasan's conflict of interest issue and Gurunath Meiyappan's involvement in the betting and spot-fixing controversy were the main points of focus in media recently, the two-time champions will be keen to put that on the back-seat and get their campaign off to a successful start.
Their opponents are Delhi Daredevils, who made drastic changes to their personnel after a couple of disastrous seasons which saw them finish twice at the bottom of the table. With a new skipper in JP Duminy and experienced players like Yuvraj Singh, Zaheer Khan and Angelo Mathews, the Gary Kirsten-coached Delhi side will be eager to start afresh.
Venue: MA Chidambaram stadium, Chennai
Date: April 9, 2015
Time: 20:00 IST
Weather: Clear skies have been forecast while the temperatures will be around the 30 degree C mark with a high humidity of 79-82%
Team news
Chennai Super Kings
Under the able leadership of Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Chennai Super Kings have been the most successful team of IPL, with a win percentage close to 61. They have a tried and tested line-up which has served the team well over the years. Brendon McCullum, who joined CSK last year, had a good outing in 2014 and he will be the one the team will bank on for fiery starts. While McCullum was in superb form in the recently-concluded World Cup and will be expected to extend his fine run, the same cannot be said of his opening partner Dwayne Smith, who looked out of touch in the multi-team event. Smith might have been one of the top run-getters for CSK last year, but his performance will be under scrutiny and unless he gets going in the initial few matches, the experienced Michael Hussey could get the nod over the West Indian opener.
CSK boast of a formidable middle order with the presence of Faf du Plessis, Suresh Raina and Dhoni, along with quality allrounders like Dwayne Bravo and Ravindra Jadeja. Du Plessis, Raina and Dhoni came up with solid performances in the World Cup, but Jadeja was below-par while Bravo was left out of the West Indian team for the event.
In the bowling department, Mohit Sharma, who also bowled well in the World Cup, will be Chennai's bowling spearhead while the other pace options include South African allrounder Kyle Abbott, New Zealand's Matt Henry as well as Indian bowlers like Ashish Nehra and Irfan Pathan.
Chennai also have a quality spin attack - R Ashwin will play the leader of the pack, which also has Jadeja, legspinners Samuel Badree and Rahul Sharma, and left-arm spinner Pawan Negi, who was the Man of the Match when CSK lifted the World T20 League title last year.
Probable XI: Brendon McCullum, Dwayne Smith, Suresh Raina, Faf du Plessis, Dwayne Bravo, MS Dhoni, Mithun Manhas/Pawan Negi, Ravindra Jadeja, R Ashwin, Ashish Nehra, Mohit Sharma
Delhi Daredevils
Ever since their table-topping performance in 2012, things have gone downhill for Delhi Daredevils. After finishing last in two successive years, an overhaul was in order as Delhi decided to release as many as 13 players, including big names such as Kevin Pietersen, Ross Taylor, Dinesh Karthik and Murali Vijay, ahead of the 2015 auction. After the bidding wars, they got hold of Yuvraj for a record sum of Rs 16 crore, and also bagged the services of experienced players like Zaheer, Mathews and Amit Mishra, along with a host of talented domestic and overseas names.
Skipper Duminy, along with Yuvraj, Mathews, Kedar Jadhav and Manoj Tiwary form the nucleus of a solid middle order. However, Mathews won't be available for the first game because of a ban on Sri Lankan players by the Tamil Nadu government. Delhi are likely to go in with Quinton de Kock as the opener, while one of Saurabh Tiwary, CM Gautam or Mayank Agarwal is likely to partner him. Shreyas Iyer, who had a terrific Ranji season and also impressed in Delhi's practice matches, is in the reckoning as well.
Daredevils' bowling department is their strong suit with the presence of Mohammed Shami and Nathan Coulter-Nile, along with experienced spinners in Mishra and Imran Tahir. Shami, though, is doubtful for the opening game as he is nursing a knee problem. Zaheer, who will also play the role of a bowling mentor, may not be drafted in straight away as he is not fully fit. With two key Indians bowlers likely to miss the opening game, Domnic Joseph or Jaydev Unadkat might get an opportunity.
Probable XI: Quinton de Kock, Saurabh Tiwary, Shreyas Iyer, Yuvraj Singh, JP Duminy, Kedar Jadhav, Manoj Tiwary, Amit Mishra, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Domnic Joseph, Imran Tahir
Numbers
10: The number of IPL matches CSK have won against Delhi Daredevils till date. Chennai have ended up on the losing side four times against Delhi.
325: The number of runs Suresh Raina has scored in the IPL so far. He is the only player to aggregate in excess of 3000 runs.
Quotes:
'We have a trend reviving older players. Nehra still has some life left. People focus on youth. But I like experience. Nehra and Hussey are key components in our side. The knowledge they can pass on is immense. The MS Dhoni and Raina factor will be crucial. I like their work and attitude.' - CSK coach Stephen Fleming is optimistic about his senior players.
'I am excited by the calibre of players we have season. A lot of teams are quite settled and structured. But it is exciting to think that new team can bring in new energy' - JP Duminy expects DD to be a force to reckon with.
Teams:
Delhi Daredevils (From): Quinton de Kock(w), Shreyas Iyer, Manoj Tiwary, Yuvraj Singh, Kedar Jadhav, Jean-Paul Duminy(c), Angelo Mathews, Zaheer Khan, Mohammed Shami, Imran Tahir, Amit Mishra, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Shahbaz Nadeem, Mayank Agarwal, Saurabh Tiwary, Jayant Yadav, Jaydev Unadkat, Gurinder Sandhu, Chidhambaram Gautam, Travis Head, Srikar Bharat, Albie Morkel, Marcus Stoinis, Domnic Joseph, KK Jiyas
Chennai Super Kings (From): Brendon McCullum, Michael Hussey, Suresh Raina, Faf du Plessis, MS Dhoni(c/w), Dwayne Bravo, Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ishwar Pandey, Ashish Nehra, Mohit Sharma, Mithun Manhas, Baba Aparajith, Dwayne Smith, Matt Henry, Pawan Negi, Samuel Badree, Ronit More, Rahul Sharma, Kyle Abbott, Ankush Bains, Pratyush Singh, Eklavya Dwivedi
