IPL 2022, CSK vs KKR: 3 player battles to watch out for

Defending champions Chennai Super Kings (CSK) kickstart IPL 2022 by locking horns against runners-up Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) on Saturday (March 26) at the Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai.

Both sides head into the season with new skippers Ravindra Jadeja and Shreyas Iyer leading their respective sides. It will be a new start considering both are ntheew-look outfits gunning for a title.

While both teams will look to emerge victorious in their first match, the focus will be on figuring out the ideal XI. Key players from both units will look to start well and on that note, we look at the three player battles to watch out for.

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#1 Shreyas Iyer vs Dwayne Bravo

An experienced campaigner vs. one of the most flamboyant batters in the KKR camp, Dwayne Bravo loading up against an in-form Shreyas Iyer will be one of the mid-game contests to watch out for.

Bravo picked up 14 wickets in IPL 2021, and will be looking to better that this season. Iyer, on the other hand, played just eight games for Delhi in the previous edition and will look to lead from the front in IPL 2022.

The West Indies star, a bonafide champ for CSK with his subtle variations, will look to fox Iyer early on, and the latter will look to ward off that threat in an evenly-matched contest.

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#2 Ruturaj Gaikwad vs Sunil Narine

Ruturaj Gaikwad is one of the constants in the side and shoulder major responsibility in opening CSK's innings. Should he be up against Sunil Narine, it will be a clash that could turn the tide of the game.

This also provides an opportunity for both players to show why their respective franchises retained them ahead of IPL 2022. Narine had 16 wickets in IPL 2021 while Gaikwad had a stellar run with the bat, scoring 635 runs from 16 games at an average of 45.35 and a strike rate of 136.26.

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#3 Varun Chakravarthy vs CSK talisman MS Dhoni

Free of captaincy, it won't be a surprise to see MS Dhoni come out all guns blazing to give CSK the final flourish in IPL 2022. Up against him will be KKR's Varun Chakravarthy with his lethal tweakers.

Questions over Dhoni's famed finishing abilities have been going the rounds and Chakravarthy will be eager to deceive the former Indian skipper as he loads up to bowl at the death. Last season saw him bag 18 wickets, a number he will be keen to cross this time around.