IPL 2019: CSK troll RCB ahead of tournament opener on March 23

The fever is building up. The 12th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) is just over a week away and the supporters have started cheering their favourite teams. The first match of this season will be played between defending champions Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in Chennai on March 23. The CSK, led by MS Dhoni, returned to the IPL last year after a couple of years of suspension and lifted their third title to catch up with Mumbai Indians (MI).

Ahead of the much-anticipated yellow versus red clash, the Kings brigade trolled RCB on Twitter after the IPL authorities released an advert of the tournament opener. In the video, fans of both the take on each other before the captains of the two sides – Dhoni and Virat Kohli (RCB) – appeared to ask each other the scheduled of their games on Day 1 of the upcoming season.

Here’s the video

CSK have 15-7 lead over RCB; haven’t lost to them since 2014

Led by two of India’s biggest superstars of this era, the CSK and RCB will be hell-bent to prove their worth in the first match. The RCB, who overhauled their side this time eyeing for the maiden title (they lost three finals) will be particularly eager to reverse the records against the Kings. Statistics-wise, the CSK have 15-7 lead over the Challengers and were last beaten by them in Ranchi, the home town of Dhoni, way back in 2014.

Since then, the CSK have won six consecutive encounters against the RCB. The RCB failed to make the knock-out stage last year even as their skipper continued with the good batting form. This year, the team has roped in some exciting talents like South African Heinrich Klaasen and Shimron Hetmyer from the West Indies besides some home-grown talents like Shivam Dube, Akashdeep Nath, and Prayas Ray Barman.

So far, the BCCI has announced the fixture of two weeks of the IPL till April 5 as it waited for the Election Commission to come up with the schedule of the Lok Sabha election. The election is set to kick off on April 11 and it is to be seen how the BCCI accommodates the remaining fixture of the IPL.

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