KKR achieved the unthinkable last season by reaching the finals despite having the worst possible start. It was quite clear this year that they were going to get a captain in Shreyas Iyer and build the team around him.
Also Read:Â TATA IPL 2022: Atul Wassan praises Jadeja, calls him best bet; to captain CSK
Their strategy has been somewhat puzzling  when they ended up spending a significant sum on getting Nitish Rana. KKR are missing a strong opener to pair with Iyer. A lot will depend on Russell and Billings in the middle order.
With no Cummins and Southee available for the 1st game, they’d be forced to play SL all rounder Chamika Karunaratne. Umesh and Mavi are expected to take the new ball. They have also signed 2 exciting players in Ramesh Kumar (also called as Jalalabad’s Narine) and fast bowler Aman Khan.
Team’s batting 2nd have won the last 10 out of the 13 T20 games played at Wankhede. KKR have won only 1 out of their 11 games here. CSK have won 11 out of their 19 games at Wankhede. They won 4/5 games in 2021.
Probable XIÂ
Chennai Super Kings: Ruturaj Gaikwad, Devon Conway, Robin Uthappa, Â Ambati Rayudu, Â Shivam Dube, Ravindra Jadeja, Â MS Dhoni, Â Dwayne Bravo, Â Rajvardhan Hangergekar/Tushar Deshpande, Adam Milne, Mahesh Theekshana.
Kolkata Knight Riders: Venkatesh Iyer, Ajinkya Rahane, Nitish Rana, Shreyas Iyer, Andre Russell, Sam Billings, Sunil Narine, Chamika Karunaratne, Umesh Yadav, Shivam Mavi, Varun Chakravarty.
Head to Head
Overall: CSK leads 18-9
Last 5 matches: CSK leads 4-1
At Wankhede: CSK leads 1-0
Match Ups
Dhoni vs Varun: 10 runs for 3 dismissals
Dhoni vs Umesh: 73 runs for 1 dismissal (197 SR)
MS Dhoni vs Narine: 44 runs for 2 dismissals (53 SR)
Ruturaj vs Narine: 29 runs for 1 dismissal (89 SR)
Jadeja vs Narine: 44 runs for 2 dismissals (97 SR)
Russell vs Bravo: 266 runs for 6 dismissals (202 SR)
Narine vs Bravo: 41 runs for 3 dismissals (113 SR)
