Chennai v Bangalore: Latest Odds and Analysis

CSK v RCB predictions: 

• Chennai to win the match - 1.73 @ Melbet
• Deepak Chahar over 1.5 wickets - 2.62 @ Melbet
• Ajinkya Rahane under 21.5 runs - 1.83 @ Melbet

When: Friday 22 March, 8:00pm IST

Where: MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai

Watch: Star Sports and Jio Cinema

Best Odds: Chennai Super Kings 1.73, Royal Challengers Bangalore 2.10

There could hardly be a bigger marquee matchup to start the 2024 IPL season, with the fresh promise of a new dawn greeting Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) motivating their supporters after 16 seasons of pain.

The tremendous turnaround of their women’s team from a 0-5 campaign to the franchise’s first ever trophy should at least somewhat inspire the men to strive for their first title, if they already weren’t sufficiently motivated by the competition’s longest drought.

The Indian Premier League (IPL) is never short of fairy tales, and whilst last year’s phenomenal win from MS Dhoni’s Chennai Super Kings (CSK) will be hard to top, there’s no telling what 2024 has in store for us.

In addition to reviewing India’s best betting sites and new player promotional offers for this year’s IPL, we’ll also be providing our predictions for the tournament winner and best bets for the opening night in Chennai, including valuable insights for IPL betting online.

The Numbers That Matter

• Chennai recorded the highest opening partnership 12 times last year
• RCB hit the most sixes in just four IPL 2023 matches
• CSK lost just nine wickets during the powerplay last season (league average: 21)
• Glenn Maxwell to Ravindra Jadeja in IPL: 6-70 from 51 balls

Chennai’s reign at home too strong to ignore

A new opening combo will greet the Chepauk faithful this Friday evening when Rachin Ravindra, who took the world by storm last year as the ODI World Cup’s fourth-leading run scorer, replaces injured compatriot Devon Conway at least until May.

Joining him is the fifth-best scorer of that tournament, Daryl Mitchell, who will occupy one of the four foreign player slots alongside Moeen Ali and Matheesha Pathirana, whilst fellow Kiwi Mitchell Santner will be putting the pressure on the lot of them.

The defending champions are opening their campaign with one of their most favourable matchups imaginable, having won their last seven games against RCB in Chennai, albeit with the most recent of those coming way back in 2019.

The best XI is largely unchanged from the one that lifted the trophy in Ahmedabad last year, though it could arguably be even stronger thanks to the inclusion of Shardul Thakur, whilst deadwood Ambati Rayudu is out the door after averaging just 15.8 last year.

Mitchell has never impressed in this competition, with a top score of just 17 from eight innings between 2014-22, but he and Ravindra were nothing short of superb on cricket’s biggest stage in India last year.

Prediction: Chennai to win the match - 1.73 @ Melbet

Chahar’s Chidambaram success to carry on

Eight years after his debut in this competition, 31-year-old seamer Deepak Chahar will be hoping he can follow in the footsteps of Mohammed Shami and continue getting better into his 30s.

There’s no better place to kick his season off as one of CSK’s most senior bowlers than at Chepauk, where he took 2+ wickets in four consecutive appearances in the back half of the 2023 season.

He’ll just be hoping to avoid a repeat of last year, where he went for 0/55 against LSG in his first home game only to end up on the sidelines for an extended period.

In the absence of the injured Matheesha Pathirana and Mustafizur Rahman, he’s going to have to take on additional responsibility, and it could open up extra wicket-taking opportunities for him.

There are some very large prices out there on various cricket betting apps for him to produce another multiple wicket haul - though he may hope to avoid Virat Kohli given his H2H figures of 1-68!

Prediction: Deepak Chahar over 1.5 wickets - 2.62 @ Melbet

Rahane’s Chepauk struggles are worth noting

One man who didn’t fare so well in front of his home fans last season was Ajinkya Rahane.

It wasn’t quite “Ajinkya Rahane 2.0”, but he did enjoy a rebirth of sorts at a new team, ensuring his IPL career will probably go for at least a couple more seasons longer than looked likely when he was out of Rajasthan’s best XI.

Despite captaining Mumbai to victory in this month’s Ranji Trophy final, Rahane comes into this IPL in some pretty poor form overall, averaging just 17.83 in that particular competition despite two half-centuries and only 26.33 in the Vijay Hazare Trophy that preceded it.

In the 2023 IPL, his two half-centuries were both at enormous strike rates (71* from 29 and 61 from 27), and there were important cameos in away wins over both RCB and Gujarat. 

But in Chennai, he was dismissed for 21 or fewer runs in five of his six innings last year.

Some cricket bookmakers have his mark for this particular match at 21.5, with all recent form pointing towards him finishing short of it.

Prediction: Ajinkya Rahane under 21.5 runs - 1.83 @ Melbet