Chennai Super Kings (CSK) captain MS Dhoni won the toss and elected to field against Mumbai Indians (MI) in the opening match of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2018 tournament at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Saturday.
The first match of this year’s IPL marks the return of the two-time winners CSK, who were handed a two-year ban in the wake of the IPL 2013 betting scandal.
Having retained the core of their squad that includes captain Dhoni, Suresh Raina, Dwayne Bravo, Faf du Plessis, Murali Vijay and Ravindra Jadeja, CSK also have two of former Mumbai Indians’ players in Harbhajan Singh, Karn Sharma and Ambati Rayudu in their ranks.
The Rohit Sharma-led Mumbai Indians are the defending champions this year, having won the IPL title in the 2017 edition for the record third time. Having retained only three players in skipper Rohit, swashbuckling Hardik Pandya and Jasprit Bumrah, Mumbai Indians have one of the most well-balanced side in their roster.
Chennai’s last match before their suspension was against Mumbai Indians — the final of IPL 2015 at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata — and the rivalry that resumes Saturday night gives an opportunity to Dhoni and his team to assess their strength having added the likes of Shane Watson, Mark Wood, Shardul Thakur, Lungi Ngidi and Mitchell Santner in their squad.
This year’s IPL will mark the first instance of Decision Review System (DRS) being used in the T20 tournament, as well as mid-season transfer.
According to Cricbuzz, the mid-season transfer options allow two uncapped players who have played no more than two matches till halfway mark of the tournament to be transferred.