A massive spin test awaits the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) at Chepauk, a venue where the three-time finalists haven't won since 2008 in the IPL. RCB picked and chose well at the auction, especially their bowling department, which will only strengthen with the return of Bhuvneshwar Kumar, who was on the path to recovery from an unspecified injury. Kumar's experience and ability to move the new ball will be handy for RCB as they will be keen to get into the Chennai Super Kings' (CSK) middle-order early.
CSK will start as favourites because of their spin trio of R Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja and Noor Ahmad, who spun a web around the Mumbai Indians' batters in their first game. Chennai selected their squad for that particular venue and the opponents will have to play their best game to beat the Super Kings in their own backyard. How RCB played with both bat and ball in the IPL opener will give them a lot of confidence but how the likes of Virat Kohli, Liam Livingstone and Tim David play spin in the middle overs could well decide how RCB fare on Friday evening.
Chennai, on the other, will have their issue with the middle order. Deepak Hooda and Sam Curran aren't the strongest bets against a quality bowling line-up for RCB and hence, if the Bengaluru bowlers are able to tame their top order, it will be a good contest.
My Dream11 team for IPL 2025 Match 8, CSK vs RCB
Ruturaj Gaikwad, Phil Salt, Rachin Ravindra, Rajat Patidar (c), Shivam Dube, Noor Ahmad, Khaleel Ahmed, Krunal Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Josh Hazlewood (vc), Devdutt Padikkal
Probable Playing XIIs
Chennai Super Kings: Rahul Tripathi, Rachin Ravindra, Ruturaj Gaikwad (c), Shivam Dube, Deepak Hooda, Ravindra Jadeja, Sam Curran, MS Dhoni (wk), Ravichandran Ashwin, Nathan Ellis, Noor Ahmad, Khaleel Ahmed
Royal Challengers Bengaluru: Virat Kohli, Phil Salt (wk), Devdutt Padikkal, Rajat Patidar (c), Liam Livingstone, Jitesh Sharma (wk), Tim David/Jacob Bethell, Krunal Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar/Rasikh Salam, Yash Dayal, Josh Hazlewood, Suyash Sharma