CSK vs KKR: Captains Ravindra Jadeja and Shreyas Iyer in spotlight as IPL 2022 marks beginning of a new era

The 2-month long Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022 carnival begins with the defending champions Chennai Super Kings (CSK) taking on last year's finalists Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Saturday.

The battle between two of the strongest teams from the last season goes beyond the personnel in the team. Traditionally, MS Dhoni has been battling with different captains at KKR, be it Sourav Ganguly, Gautam Gambhir, Dinesh Karthik, or Eoin Morgan. This time, it would be Ravindra Jadeja who dons the captain's hat for CSK and looks to outplay Shreyas Iyer who makes his KKR captaincy debut.

There are plenty of challenges for the two new captains. For Jadeja, it's the task of replacing Deepak Chahar and Moeen Ali that stands heads and shoulders above the rest. Deepak continues to be sidelined because of a long-term injury while Moeen isn't available for this particular fixture having joined late due to a visa issue.

For Iyer, the absence of the Australian duo of Pat Cummins and Aaron Finch is the biggest headache. Neither of the two is available because of international commitments. It is only after the tour of Pakistan concludes on April 05 that Finch and Cummins would be able to fly out. Until then, Iyer would need to come up with different alternatives.

The newly-appointed KKR skipper's approach will be in focus too. While Iyer was playing a different brand of cricket for Delhi Capitals, he seems to have adopted a more attacking approach right before the 15th edition



of the Indian Premier League.

Jadeja, who has been a complete all-rounder for the Super Kings, now gets the 4th responsibility of captaincy on his shoulders, making him a '4D' cricketer. Having not captained even his First-Class cricket team, however, Jadeja can't hide from the fact that he doesn't have the captaincy experience that his counterpart does.

But, with MS Dhoni still in the team, Jadeja can truly rest assured that the 'Captain Cool' is there to help him in this period of transition.

Both the franchises have plenty of newcomers, having undergone a big reshuffle at the IPL 2022 auction. Chennai would be keen to see how players like Adam Milne and Devon Conway perform while there will be a focus on young all-rounder Rajvardhan Hangargekar too.

Kolkata have given veteran batter Ajinkya Rahane a lifeline and he is expected to be included in the playing XI. In Sam Billings and Chamika Karunaratne, KKR have two overseas players who haven't proven themselves in the league before.

Chennai Super Kings likely 11: Ruturaj Gaikwad, Robin Uthappa, Devon Conway, Ambati Rayudu, Ravindra Jadeja (capt), Shivam Dube, MS Dhoni (wk), Dwayne Bravo, Rajvardhan Hangargekar, Chris Jordan/Maheesh Theekshana, Adam Milne

Kolkata Knight Riders likely 11: Venkatesh Iyer, Ajinkya Rahane, Shreyas Iyer (capt), Nitish Rana, Sam Billings (wk), Andre Russell, Sunil Narine, Chamika Karunaratne, Shivam Mavi, Varun Chakravarthy, Umesh Yadav/Rasikh Salam Dar