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Will Gaikwad return to opening spot? Bhuvneshwar to play his first match? CSK vs RCB likely XIs in IPL 2025 clash
CSK and RCB head into this rivalry match with one win each on the board, and might not look to tinker too much with those combinations.
Two teams who are coming off very impressive wins in their first game of the IPL 2025 season are preparing to go head-to-head in a tense rivalry clash. The great Southern Derby of the IPL — Chennai Super Kings vs Royal Challengers Bengaluru. Neighbouring cities with plenty of pride to fight for, and with a deep history even within this tournament alone. It’s two historic former Indian captains, MS Dhoni and Virat Kohli, now sliding comfortably into the role of the wily veteran who still has some magic up their sleeves. A dynamite encounter to kick off the IPL weekend.
RCB battered KKR away from home to begin the IPL season at the Eden Gardens, riding a phenomenal bowling performance from Krunal Pandya before Phil Salt, Kohli, and Rajat Patidar helped them hunt down the target with plenty of time to spare. It was a statement of intent from a team who have had a different energy about them ever since the auction, and look poised to make a genuine tilt at their first IPL trophy.
On the other hand, five-time champions CSK already know what it takes to win, and it’s a rare year that they aren’t battling it out at the very top of the standings. With two games at home at Chepauk to start off their season, CSK will want to collect a second win and set themselves on their way to another strong year. An opening win against Mumbai inspired by Noor Ahmed’s four-fer and a silky-smooth innings at number three from captain Ruturaj Gaikwad were the standout performances for their opening win.
Teams usually don’t want to mess around too much if they have a winning start early in the season, with these sets of players having put it together to produce a comfortable early win each. However, there could still be changes, even if just on a more minute scale. For instance, Rahul Tripathi opening the batting for CSK didn’t quite work out, and the expressive batter has looked to be a better performer at number three through his IPL career. This could see Gaikwad re-promote himself to open the batting alongside Rachin Ravindra, allowing Tripathi to step in at one-drop. Tripathi provides the advantage of hitting from ball one, not allowing the momentum to stall after the fall of the opening wicket.
RCB, meanwhile, will be hoping Buvneshwar Kumar passes a fitness test in time for this crunch encounter. They did have a period in KKR’s batting innings where Ajinkya Rahane and Sunil Narine seemed to be running away with it, before the seamers dragged it back. Having the experience and attacking style that Bhuvi provides might allow them to find those quick couple of wickets early that don’t allow CSK to bolt away to a quick start. Rasikh Salam will likely be the one to miss out in that case. Swapnil Singh could also come in as an extra frontline spin option on a pitch that figures to be a slow turner.
CSK predicted XI: Ruturaj Gaikwad (c), Rachin Ravindra, Rahul Tripathi, Shivam Dube, Sam Curran, Ravindra Jadeja, MS Dhoni (wk), Ravichandran Ashwin, Noor Ahmad, Nathan Ellis, Khaleel Ahmed
RCB predicted XI: Phil Salt (wk), Virat Kohli, Rajat Patidar (c), Liam Livingstone, Jitesh Sharma, Tim David, Krunal Pandya, Suyash Sharma, Josh Hazlewood, Bhuvneshwar Kumar/Rasikh Salam, Yash Dayal
