IPL 2018: Match preview of Chennai vs Bangalore

Virat Kohli-led Bangalore face MS Dhoni-led Chennai in the first clash of Saturday, May 5 at the Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium, Pune.

Two cricketing icons Virat Kohli and MS Dhobi are face to face, what else one would want on Indian Premier League weekend.

Chennai is coming off from a tragic defeat against Kolkata in their previous encounter and must have worked on their loopholes and rectified the errors in order to earn two crucial points.

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On the other hand, team Bangalore is high on spirit as they have won the previous match against Mumbai.

The competition between the teams which are placed at the fourth, fifth and sixth position at the league's table is very tough now.

Chennai have lost its two previous clashes out of three and looked a bit off but with a well-balanced team, it requires just one win to prove caliber of the entire team.

On the other hand, confidence Virat Kohli is leading the batting department from the front but still, team Bangalore is dealing with theproblems of bowling unit, which has been very expensive especially in death overs.

The current team of Chennai is very sorted and any change at this moment is not required.

On the other hand, the good news for Bangalore is that their star player,AB de Villiers is fit and back in the squad but openerQuinton de Kock has flown backhome due to some personal reasons and skipper Virat Kohli might replace him byManan Vohra.

In the absence of wicket-keeper, the best replacement for team Bangalore is Parthiv Patel.

Playing XI (TBC):

Chennai: Shane Watson, Faf du Plessis, Suresh Raina, Ambati Rayudu, MS Dhoni (C & WK), Ravindra Jadeja, Dwayne Bravo, Karn Sharma, Harbhajan Singh, Lungisani Ngidi, KM Asif

Bangalore:Parthiv Patel, Brendon McCullum, Virat Kohli (C), AB de Villiers, Mandeep Singh, Colin de Grandhomme, Washington Sundar, Tim Southee, Umesh Yadav, Mohammed Siraj, Yuzvendra Chahal

Watch the preview here: