IPL 2014: CSK vs KKR Match Preview - IPL returns to Indian soil

MS Dhoni and Gautam Gambhir face off

The Lok Sabha elections are finally over, and the focus is finally back on track for the cricket fans in India. The Indian Premier League is back where it belongs as the second leg of the IPL begins in Ranchi on the 2nd of May.

The Chennai Super Kings who’ve had a fantastic start to their IPL campaign in the UAE, will be looking to continue their form as they take on the Kolkata Knight Riders on a slow and sluggish pitch in Ranchi. Ranchi being a recently “discovered” ground has was added to the list of IPL stadiums last season.

Being the Indian/CSK skipper MS Dhoni’s home, Ranchi is now considered to be one of the home grounds of the Chennai Super Kings. Although the familiarity to the ground will add to CSK’s already clear advantage in the tournament, the slowness of the pitch will support the KKR bowlers and also assist the skills of KKR’s veteran spinner, Sunil Narine.

The Kolkata Knight Riders will be planning big against the in-form Chennai Super Kings and will have to go all guns to shoot down the tall batting and bowling line up of CSK. Although KKR’s side looks all but settled, their batting doesn’t look as strong as the CSK line up.

KKR would be worried about the form of their skipper Gautam Gambhir but would also want to just even things out by focusing on his captaining abilities and make sure the bowling still remains formidable. The presence of Sunil Narine will boost not only the variety of KKR’s attack, but also the confidence of the team overall which they will need against the Chennai Super Kings.

Overall, KKR will need to make sure their bowling and batting overcomes the power-packed CSK line up to make any sort of improvement from the previous match.

Compared to KKR, CSK’s team balance is looking better than ever. After the first game, CSK has found a near perfect combination and have won all 4 out of 4 games that they’ve played with this settled line up. Although CSK had lost the services of Dwayne Bravo earlier in the tournament who is extremely effective in controlling the T20 format, they have found good bowling/batting replacements who have stood up for the team this year.

Bravo’s injury almost seems as a blessing in disguise since they have been able to switch their players around to find a much more balanced team than it looked in the first game.

Overall, the Chennai Super Kings have the advantage in this game with a clear cut balance in their side. The captaincy of MS Dhoni will add to the team’s almost perfect balance.

KKR, with the magnificent team they possess, haven’t been able to dominate matches like they did in 2012. The magic from Narine seems to be dormant over the past few games as teams have been able to work their way around it. Although this match is much awaited being the first match in India, CSK’s dominance has clearly stolen the limelight in this face-off.

The game which the Kolkata Knight Riders tied yesterday is also to be well noted, but finally it comes to winning games. CSK have dominated their opponents clearly, but KKR have struggled to finish off games in their grasp which clearly puts them on the back foot even before the match.