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IPL 2019 will start from the 23rd of March in Chennai. Defending champions Chennai Super Kings will take on the Royal Challengers Bangalore in the opening game.
The BCCI has released the schedule only for the first week keeping the upcoming elections in mind. The remaining fixtures are expected to be announced soon. Each team will play a minimum of four matches, two at home and two away from home in the first two weeks.
Chennai Super Kings made a strong comeback in the 2018 season by winning the title for the third time. On the other hand, Mumbai Indians have also won the title three times under the leadership of Rohit Sharma. However, all eyes will be on RCB who are yet to taste an IPL success.
Virat Kohli must have prepared well for the upcoming season. The first two weeks will tell us how the teams will shape up for the remaining phase of the tournament. So, starting high will be a key for every team in tournaments like this.
The opening combo will be vital in the shortest format of the game. Most of the successful IPL teams have had strong openers and the ones with average openers have struggled in the long run. Let us see the predicted opening combination for each IPL team.
#8 Rajasthan Royals (Jos Butter and Ajinkya Rahane)
During the second half of last season, the Royals promoted England wicket-keeper batsman Jos Buttler as the opener. It turned out to be a brave move as he scored five consecutive half-centuries, almost converting two of them into centuries.
Hence, there is no doubt that they will continue to persist with him in the 2019 season. However, before Buttler came in, the Royals tried quite a few players in the opening slot last season.
Most of them failed to perform. Hence, they might turn to Rahane to fill the second opener's slot. He has played 98 innings as an IPL opener and has scored the bulk of his runs in that position. So it will be ideal to go with these two.
#7 Sunrisers Hyderabad (David Warner and Jonny Bairstow)
David Warner has been an integral part of the SRH setup for quite some time now. They missed him badly last season. His return would make them, even more, stronger and powerful than they presently are.
Warner has scored over 3400 runs as an opener with three centuries to his name. He was the main reason why they won the 2016 IPL season. However, they would miss Shikhar Dhawan on the other hand, who would play for the Delhi Capitals this season.
Hence, they need to find someone else to partner the Australian at the top of the order. From the given squad, we understand that they might go for England wicketkeeper Jonny Bairstow. He has been in great touch as seen in the recent T20I series against the Windies.
#6 Kings XI Punjab (KL Rahul and Chris Gayle)
KL Rahul was phenomenal for the Kings XI Punjab last season. He scored over 650 runs in last year's tournament, finishing as the third highest run-getter.
Rahul has played well even in the recently concluded T20I series against Australia. If he is one of the openers then Chris Gayle will be the one accompanying him at the top. Gayle didn't have a great season in 2018 but has been in a great hitting form for the West Indies against England.
So the KXIP management will be delighted to know that their top order picks itself.
#5 Delhi Capitals (Shikhar Dhawan and Shreyas Iyer)
The Delhi Capitals are filled with a bunch of youngsters. The return of the experienced Shikhar Dhawan would help these youngsters learn from him.
He can be a great mentor for them this season. Dhawan who has enough amount of experience as an opener both in IPL and International cricket would be the first choice opener for Delhi.
The second opener would be Shreyas Iyer who has shown tremendous hitting ability in the ongoing Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 tournament. He has scored a couple of centuries in this tournament, including the highest ever individual T20 score by an Indian.
#4 Kolkata Knight Riders (Chris Lynn and Sunil Narine)
A few seasons ago, Kolkata experimented with Sunil Narine as an opener and it turned out to be one of the masterstrokes in the IPL history. He was one of the prime reasons why KKR always had an aggressive start in the first six overs of the game.
In the 2018 season, he had scored half-centuries off 17 and 26 balls. Partnering him up top would most likely be Australian batsman Chris Lynn who is known for his big hitting abilities. These two gave them a solid start in 2018 and KKR will hope that they continue to do so this season also.
#3 Royal Challengers Bangalore (Parthiv Patel and Virat Kohli)
Ever since Chris Gayle was released from Bangalore's books, the opening position has been an issue for the Karnataka based franchise. Parthiv Patel, who has a decent amount of experience as an opener in the IPL is expected to be the first choice.
Parthiv has played as an opener for top franchises like Chennai and Mumbai. He has been relatively successful for them. However, the other opener might be swapped according to the need of the situation.
But we can expect them to go with Kohli who has been in the form of his life since the 2016 edition. It is wise to make your top player bat as many overs as he can to pile up a substantial score.
#2 Mumbai Indians (Suryakumar Yadav and Evin Lewis)
Last season Mumbai surprisingly started with Suryakumar Yadav and it turned out to be a good decision. The Mumbai born batsman scored over 500 runs for them last season.
The same is expected to continue this season also. On the other hand, West Indian Evin Lewis had a decent season last year, chipping in with 382 runs. However, he failed to convert his starts into big scores.
If he can improve on this, it will be a huge bonus for Mumbai who have a strong middle order. Apart from these two, they have captain Rohit Sharma and Ishan Kishan who can fill the opening slot if needed.
#1 Chennai Super Kings (Ambati Rayudu and Shane Watson)
One of the primary reasons why Chennai Super Kings have been the most consistent side in the IPL is because they have had some great openers in the past from Matthew Hayden to Mike Hussey and Brendon McCullum.
Even last season they sent Rayudu as an opener and he had scored over 600 runs including his maiden IPL century. The other opener Shane Watson also had a great season, scoring over 550 runs including a century in the final.
The Australian helped CSK chase down 178 runs inside 19 overs to win the title for the third time. Chennai will not change this successful combo. Hence, they will continue to open in the 2019 season too. CSK has Faf Du Plessis who can play the role of the back opener if needed.
The Chennai outfit will look to get some great starts to win their fourth title.
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