Just last month, Faf du Plessis delivered an outstanding performance, propelling Joburg Super Kings into the SA20 playoffs. In four months’ time, he’ll return to the Texas Super Kings, donning their yellow colors once more and joining forces with coach Stephen Fleming.
This partnership traces back to 2011, when du Plessis was initially signed by Chennai Super Kings, even before making his international debut for South Africa.
Currently, however, du Plessis is donning the red and blue of Royal Challengers Bengaluru for the IPL, stepping away from his iconic yellow jersey. Despite being a former favorite at Chepauk, he will lead RCB as captain for the first time in Chennai this Friday. Interestingly, his expected counterpart has changed.
Ahead of the IPL 2024 season opener, Ruturaj Gaikwad, du Plessis’ former opening partner, was appointed as CSK’s new captain, replacing MS Dhoni just before the teams commenced training.
Chennai Super Kings vs Royal Challengers Bengaluru TV Channels
TATA IPL 2024 will be live-streamed on JioCinema in 12 languages in India, Star Sports channels holds the rights to telecast on TV. Similarly, Star Sports will also broadcast all the matches of IPL 2024 in Nepal in two different languages (English and Hindi).
Fans can watch Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 Live in India and Nepal in different channels of Star Sports.
JioCinema users can watch the matches in 12 different languages, including English, Tamil, Hindi, Telugu, Marathi, Gujarati, Bengali, and Bhojpuri, to name a few. The commentary and statistics will eventually change as per the choice of language one plans to watch.
Viewers from India can watch all the matches of Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 for free in the official website and app of Jio Cinema.
Different channels of Star Sports that will broadcast the matches of Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 are:
Star Sports – Star Sports 1, Star Sports 1 HD, Star Sports Select 1 SD, Star Sports Select 1 HD, Star Sports 3, Star Sports HD 3 (English), Star Sports 1 Hindi, Star Sports 1 HD (Hindi), Star Sports 1 Tamil, Star Sports 1 Telugu, Star Sports 1 Kannada, Star Sports 1 Bangla, Star Sports 1 Marathi, Star Sports 1 Malayalam, and Suvarna Plus (Kannada), Jalsha Movies (Bengali), Maa Movies (Telegu), Star Pravah HD (Marathi), Star Gold, Star Gold HD, Vijay Super SD, Asianet Plus (Sunday matches).
Team News
As for team news, Dhoni, recovering from knee surgery, is set to return alongside CSK’s designated spin-hitter Shivam Dube, who has recuperated from an injury that sidelined him during the Ranji Trophy knockouts. However, CSK will miss Matheesha Pathirana, their death-overs specialist, due to a hamstring injury during the initial stages of IPL 2024.
On the other side, RCB will see Virat Kohli’s return to competitive cricket after a two-month break, preparing for the 2024 T20 World Cup in June. Kohli’s aggressive approach in recent T20 games against Afghanistan hints at a potential change in his batting style for RCB.
Here are the possible lineups for both teams:
Chennai Super Kings:
- Bat-first XI: Ruturaj Gaikwad (capt), Rachin Ravindra, Ajinkya Rahane, Moeen Ali, Daryl Mitchell, Shivam Dube, Ravindra Jadeja, MS Dhoni (wk), Shardul Thakur, Deepak Chahar, Maheesh Theekshana
- Bowl-first XI: Ruturaj Gaikwad (capt), Rachin Ravindra, Ajinkya Rahane, Moeen Ali, Daryl Mitchell, Ravindra Jadeja, MS Dhoni (wk), Shardul Thakur, Deepak Chahar, Maheesh Theekshana, Mukesh Choudhary/Tushar Deshpande
Royal Challengers Bengaluru:
- Bat-first XI: Faf du Plessis (capt), Virat Kohli, Rajat Patidar, Glenn Maxwell, Cameron Green, Anuj Rawat/Mahipal Lomror/Suyash Prabhudessai, Dinesh Karthik (wk), Alzarri Joseph, Mayank Dagar, Akash Deep/Vyshak Vijaykumar, Mohammed Siraj
- Bowl-first XI: Faf du Plessis (capt), Virat Kohli, Rajat Patidar, Glenn Maxwell, Cameron Green, Dinesh Karthik (wk), Alzarri Joseph, Mayank Dagar, Akash Deep/Vyshak Vijaykumar, Himanshu Sharma/Karn Sharma, Mohammed Siraj