Every year, the IPL gathers an incredible number of people in the stands who enjoy watching the matches of their favorites. On this year’s IPL schedule, one of the interesting matches should be the battle between the 2021 winners Chennai Super Kings and Royal Challengers Bangalore, who broke into the Eliminator last year.
CSK strengths and weaknesses
Last year, the Chennai Super Kings snatched victory and are one of the bookies’ favorites to win IPL 2022. This is due both in terms of the motives that the team is aiming for this year, and the composition, which has undergone major changes in connection with the new rules of the auction. CSK did a good job on tactics, gathering the strongest team resource in their roster, on which many have high hopes, including in the Chennai Super Kings vs Royal Challengers Bangalore match, in which CSK will be able to show all their strength.
If we consider the changes made to the team, they are really noticeable. However, the Chennai Super Kings have not departed from the strategy of gathering experienced players. If we take the retained cricketers, then here the picture is extremely joyful. For starters, the captaincy was left to MS Dhoni, who skilfully led the team to the championship earlier, and is more than ready this year. Among the batters, the team left behind Ruturaj Gaikwad, a young but very strong player who showed good results at the IPL 2021 and local tournaments. Among the all-rounders, the choice fell on Ravindra Jadeja and Moeen Ali. The team also successfully re-signed batsman Ambati Rayudu and all-rounder Dwayne Bravo. In addition to these players, the team made several other signings from last season.
As a result, CSK has a strong and experienced team, including players who have already managed to play with each other. Of the common shortcomings, the high average age of the players is striking, which affects the susceptibility to injury and overall endurance. In addition, Suresh Raina, last year’s vice-captain and one of the legends of Indian cricket, will not play at IPL 2022.
RCB strengths and weaknesses
Royal Challengers Bangalore is another of the IPL’s veteran teams. RCB has not won the title yet, but they hold 2 quite important records in the history of the IPL – the highest and lowest totals in the history of matches. As for this season, in the IPL schedule, the match with CSK will be on the verge of the “equator”, which will be a real test of strength.
Compared to the Chennai Super Kings, the RCB roster has undergone much more noticeable changes. At the same time, the team retained the key players from last season. The captain’s position was entrusted to Virat Kohli, who has been reliable support for his team for more than one season. Also, Australian all-rounder Glenn Maxwell and bowler Mohammad Siraj remained on the roster. In general, the team’s line-up is well complemented by foreign players, including from Australia, and well diluted with young cricket talents.
Among the general shortcomings, one can single out a small number of batters, as well as the departure of a strong wicket-keeper AB de Villiers. So soon, we will see what the updated team is capable of in the battle against the favorites of this year.