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| Dhoni |
Led by Indian skipper MS Dhoni, CSK successfully managed to retain most of their players for the season and they will start as the favourites against KKR, who have gone for a completely revamped side with Gautam Gambhir at the helm.
The CSK have been the most consistent team in the IPL reaching the final in 2008, reaching semi-final in 2009 and winning the trophy last year.
On the other hand, KKR have been consistently inconsistent finishing sixth among eight teams in 2008 and 2010, while last in 2009.
However, with a completely new squad team owner Shah Rukh Khan can hope for a better performance this season. In Gambhir, who was instrumental for Delhi Daredevils, they have a good leader and an explosive opening batsman.
The middle-order boasts of players like Jacques Kallis, Ryan Ten Doeschate, Manoj Tiwary and Yusuf Pathan, who on their day can change the course of the game in few overs.
With Brett Lee, Lakshmipathy Balaji, Jaydev Unadkat and all-rounder Rajat Bhatia, KKR seems to have enough ammunition to change their record at the MA Chidambaram stadium, having lost all the matches they have played here.
The Chennai outfit might be without Doug Bollinger, who is expected to join the squad next month and spin wizard Muttiah Muralitharan (bought by Kochi), but they are still one of the best side on paper in IPL.
The batting department comprises Murali Vijay, Suresh Raina, Subramaniam Badrinath, Michael Hussey, Dhoni and Albie Morkel.
In bowling they have the "best new-ball spinner" Ravichandran Ashwin along with Ben Hilfenhaus, Sudeep Tyagi and Nuwan Kulasekara.
Being the first match of the season, it is still early to predict the teams on the basis of names, but CSK look ready for the challenge far better than KKR.
Teams: (from)
Chennai: Mahendra Singh Dhoni (Captain, wicket-keeper), Suresh Raina, Murali Vijay, Subramaniam Badrinath, Michael Hussey, George Bailey, Albie Morkel, Scott Styris, Dwayne Bravo, Wriddhiman Saha, Suraj Randiv, Francois du Plesis, Tim Southee, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ben Hilfenhaus, Sudeep Tyagi, Nuwan Kulasekara and Joginder Sharma.
Kolkata: Gautam Gambhir (Captain), Jacques Kallis, Eoin Morgan, Brett Lee, Shakib Al Hasan, Ryan Ten Doeschate, James Pattinson, Brad Haddin, Yusuf Pathan, Lakshmipathy Balaji, Manoj Tiwary, Jaydev Unadkat, Iqbal Abdullah, Laxmi Ratan Shukla, Shami Ahmed, Shreevats Goswami, Pradeep Sangwan, Sarabjit Ladda, Manvinder Bisla and Rajat Bhatia.
Sources: http://www.sportal.co.in
