Shivam Dube finishes the game with a six and two consecutive fours. The last one was given as leg byes but CSK won't mind it. They win this game by 6 wickets. A superb start to the season this is for the five-time champions under their new captain Ruturaj Gaikwad.

CSK 176/4 (18.4)

Shivam Dube hit a four down the ground and CSK now need only 10 runs in 13 balls. It is a matter of time for the side to win this game.

12 runs came off the third over of Cameron Green. Chennai Super Kings need 34 runs in 24 balls. Ravindra Jadeja and Shivam Dube are playing really well here. They are batting smartly.

CSK 140/4 (16)

26 runs have come off the last four over and Chennai Super Kings also lost one wicket during that phase. CSK now need 46 runs in 30 balls. This is a good comeback from RCB but they need a couple of more wickets to put CSK under presssure, or one good over from here and CSK will dominate the contest.

CSK 128/4 (15)

Cameron Green strikes again and RCB are back in the game. Mitchell hit the short ball down to long-on. He departed for an 18-ball 22. Chennai Super Kings need 64 runs in 44 balls. This match is definitely not over for RCB yet.

CSK 110/4 (12.3)

Seven runs came off the second over of Alzarri Joseph. Chennai Super Kings bow need 65 runs in 48 balls. They are scoring at 9.08 per over and need 8.12 from here. Not much of an ask on this surface. They just need to keep going like this without losing much wickets.

Cameron Green was hit for a six by Ajinkya Rahane and he got the batter out the very next ball. It was a tad short and Rahane wanted to guide it over the fence but ended up handing a catch to Glenn Maxwell at backward square leg. Chennai Super Kings need 75 runs in 58 balls.

CSK 99/3 (10.2) 

Karn Sharma smashes Daryl Mitchell for two consecutive sixes. Sharma gave flight on both the deliveries and Mitchell smacked both of them. The first one went down the ground for a biggie while the second one went over the long-off fielder.

Karn Sharma finally has his revenge. It was a tad fuller and that gave Ravindra really less time. The batter tried to slog it but handed a catch to Rajat Patidar. RCB are back in the game. Chennai Super Kings need 103 runs in 78 balls.

CSK 71/2 (7)

A poor short ball from Karn Sharma and it got the right treatment from Rachin Ravindra. The southpaw slammed it for a six over deep mid-wicket.

Wow! What a shot! That came right from the middle of the bat of Ajinkya Rahane and comfortably went to wide of long-off for a six. It was a back of a length delivery and Rahane, by standing tall, lofted it for the biggie.

CSK 55/1 (5.3)

Ruturaj Gaikwad was looked dodgy for the away swinging deliveries of Yash Dayal and eventually perished to one. It was bowled on length with an away movement. Gaikwad went for a drive and edged the ball to Cameron Green at first slip. A bit of fumble from Green but he managed to take the catch at the end. Gaikwad fell for a run-a-ball 15.

A short ball from Mohammed Siraj and Ravindra failed to time his shot properly. Given the fine leg fielder was inside the circle, the ball crossed the fence for a six. 15 runs came off the over.

CSK 28/0 (3)

That's a beautiful flick shot from Rachin Ravindra for a four. Mohammed Siraj bowled it on the pads of the southpaw, who comfortably beat the fine leg fielder for the boundary. The player in deep put a full-fledged dive but failed to stop the ball at backward square leg.

Rachin Racindra nearly chopped the Yash Dayal delivery on his stumps but he was lucky that the ball missed the sticks and rather ran away for a four. The ball was out of wicketkeeper Anuj Rawat's reach and he could only see it pass through his right side.

CSK 12/0 (1.1)

Yash Dayal replaced Dinesh Karthik as impact substitute for RCB before CSK started their chase. Ruturaj Gaikwad hit Mohammed Siraj for two fours in the over. One on the leg side, other on the off side. Eight runs came off the over. Rachin Ravindra will face Yash Dayal in the next over. 

CSK 8/0 (1)

MS Dhoni caps off the innings with a smart glove work. He was alert and therefore ran Anuj Rawat out of the final ball that was played by Dinesh Karthik, who failed to get his bat on it yet tried to steal a single. Only 9 runs came off the Tushar Deshpande over and RCB have got a fighting total on the board. 

RCB 173/6 (20)

Tushar Deshpande bowled two deliveries outside the tramline but Karthik had come well across the stumps on both the ocassions. Karthik took review for both as ground umpire gave verdict on bowler's favour. Karthik took DRS on both but all of them went against him. 

This is superb batting from Dinesh Karthik and Anuj Rawat. 16 runs came off the Mustafizur Rahman over. RCB did struggle in the middle but they are putting a good end to their innings here. One more over to go. Can they get over 180? Let's see...

RCB 164/5 (19)

This is the over RCB needed. They got 25 runs off the Tushar Deshpande over and now they look well set to post a competitive total. Karthik hit a six off the first legal delivery before giving strike to Anuj Rawat, who smashed two big sixes and a four to make it a big over.

Oh, that is a superb shot from Anuj Rawat! Tushar Deshpande bowled it at length and Rawat made the ball disappear into the night sky for a moment before it appeared into the stands over square leg. RCB are coming back into the game.

RCB 138/5 (17.3)

Wow! What a shot from Dinesh Karthik for a six there! Tushar Deshpande bowled it around length and Karthik hit straight down the ground for a six. The shot looked similar to Kohli's iconic six that the star hit to Pakistan's Haris Rauf in T20 World Cup 2022.

RCB 130/5 (17.1) 

Mustafizur Rahman has bowled a seven-run over. This is the first over for him in the game in which he has got no wicket. He bowled well but failed to break the partnership between Karthik and Anuj , which now grows to 45.

A much-needed six for Royal Challengers Bengaluru. It was a full toss from Maheesh Theekshana and Dinesh Karthik hit it over the long-on fence for a six. 14 runs came off the over and RCB have made a bit of recovery. This partnership has added 38 runs off 26 balls.

This is smart batting from Anuj Rawat. He was expecting a short ball from Deepak Chahar and was ready on the back foot. As soon as Chahar bowled it there, Rawat played an upper cut on it for a four. 12 runs came off the over over.

RCB 102/5 (15)

A boundary comes after a long time for RCB. Deepak Chahar bowled a full toss and Anuj Rawat comfortably hit it in the gap between mid-off and cover fielders for a four. This is a boundary for RCB after 28 balls.

Only four runs came off the Tushar Deshpande over. CSK are controlling this game beautifully and Mustafizur Rahman deserves the credit for it. It has been a good start to captaincy for Ruturaj Gaikwad, who is being guided by former captain MS Dhoni at times.

Mustafizur Rahman has once again got two wickets in his one over and he is not done yet, he still has two balls to go. Fizz first got Kohli and then removed Cameron Green with a smart slower delivery. Green was not expecting it and hence the ball from Mustafizur rattled his stumps.

RCB 78/5 (11.4)

What a catch from Ajinkya Rahane and Virat Kohli will have to depart at the score of 21 off 20 balls. RCB lose their fourth wicket.

RCB 77/4 (11.2)

Only one run came off the third over of Ravindra Jadeja. Green played two dot balls and then took a single. Jadeja never gave really any time to Kohli to think and bowled three consecutive dot balls to him.

There comes the first boundary from the bat of Virat Kohli and it is a six. Maheesh Theekshana bowled a short ball and Kohli was quick to transfer his weight on the back foot and smash the ball over deep mid-wicket for a six.

On the fourth ball of the over, Cameron Green hit Ravindra Jadeja for a four. It was a boundary for RCB after 25 balls. The match had kicked off with Faf du Plessis' blitzkrieg but CSK dominated the following phase, thanks to Mustafizur's double-wicket over.

6.5 - A single from the bat of Virat Kohli towards mid-wicket and with it, he races to the milestone of 12000 T20 runs. Kohli becomes the first India batter to achieve the feat. Overall, Kohli is the sixth batter to the feat.

5.3 - Deepak Chahar has claimed the wicket of Glenn Maxwell. The Australian start is out for a first-ball duck. It was a length ball and Maxwell edged it to wicketkeeper MS Dhoni.

Mustafizur has struck again and CSK are back in the game. No foot moment from Rajat Patidar and he has edged the ball to wicketkeeper MS Dhoni. Patidar departs for a three-ball duck.

Faf du Plessis 35(23) is gone! Mustafizur Rahman has provided a crucial breakthrough to CSK. Faf wanted to go for a big one but edged the ball in the air. Rachin Ravindra at deep backward point took a brilliant running catch.

Only four singles came off the first over of Maheesh Theekshana. Gaikwad decided to bring in spin and that worked for CSK, at least for now. That was the first over so far in this innings that had no boundary in it.

That is an expensive over from Deepak Chahar and Faf du Plessis was the man who smashed him for boundaries in it. The South African batting star hit a total of four fours in the over that fetched RCB 17 runs. 

A fuller ball from Deepak Chahar and Faf decided to play a lofted drive over the mid-off player. He comfortably hit the ball over the fielder and the ball raced away to the fence for another four. Du Plessis is looking in really good form.

Faf du Plessis hit two fours in the first over of Tushar Deshpande, fetching a total of 9 runs off it.

Tushar Deshpande pitches it on a length and du Plessis flicks it away for a four towards the square leg fence. Early signs suggest that this is a really good pitch to bat on.

RCB 11/0 (1.1)

It was a decent first over from Deepak Chahar. He conceded a boundary off the fifth ball. A total of 7 runs came off it.

Deepak Chahar started with a wide ball on the off side. The next one was a length ball and Virat Kohli got off the mark with a single off it.

Royal Challengers Bengaluru Subs: Yash Dayal, Akash, Prabhudessai, Swapnil, Vyshak

Chennai Super Kings Subs: Shardul Thakur, Shivam Dube, Shaik Rasheed, Nishant Sindhu, Moeen Ali

Chennai Super Kings (Playing XI): Ruturaj Gaikwad(c), Rachin Ravindra, Ajinkya Rahane, Daryl Mitchell, Ravindra Jadeja, Sameer Rizvi, MS Dhoni(w), Deepak Chahar, Maheesh Theekshana, Mustafizur Rahman, Tushar Deshpande

Royal Challengers Bengaluru (Playing XI): Faf du Plessis(c), Virat Kohli, Rajat Patidar, Glenn Maxwell, Cameron Green, Dinesh Karthik, Anuj Rawat(w), Karn Sharma, Alzarri Joseph, Mayank Dagar, Mohammed Siraj

"Feel privledged. But I want to try and be in my shoes, not fill anybody's shoes. (On captaincy) I got to know last week, but Mahi bhai hinted at it last year. Everyone is experienced here, sadly we are missing Conway and Pathirana. We've got Rachin and Mitchell coming in though this year so they should fit in well. Looks like a good pitch, a hard surface that should hold up well for the second innings. Four overseas - Mitchell, Rachin, Fizz and Theekshana. The mystery spinner Sameer Rizvi is making his debut as well."

"We'll bat first. Looks a good wicket, conditions here are a bat first wicket. First time back here, great to see the Chennai fans again but I'm here with RCB and hopefully we can turn over a very good CSK team. Prep has been good, we need to turn up now. A seasoned campaigner, brings that experience. Really good, our bowling resources fit well. Got more backup. Hopefully, injuires don't bother us too much. Alzarri Joseph comes in tonight, got a few spinners in the middle. And since we are batting first, we'll see how it goes."

Royal Challengers Bengaluru captain Faf du Plessis has won the toss and opted to bat first against Chennai Super Kings at MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai.

Here is a delightful sight for the MS Dhoni and CSK fans. The legendary wicketkeeper could be seen donning the gloves and practising ahead of the toss for the opening game. This means that Dhoni will be playing this game. On the other side of the ground, Virat Kohli is also practising his batting. He looks quite chilled and so does his former India teammate Dhoni.

The RCB spin attack, though, wears a thin look in the absence of leg-spinner Wanindu Hasaranga, who was released ahead of the auction. They will have to hope for Glenn Maxwell to deliver the goods with his off-spin but others like Karn Sharma, Himanshu Sharma and Mayank Dagar are either short of match practice or untested.

Cameron Green can also chip in as a bowler. Then there is always Glenn Maxwell, whose high-return outings in last year's World Cup might not have been forgotten. RCB have a mix of extreme pace and skills in the fast bowling unit through Mohammed Siraj, Lockie Ferguson, Alzarri Joseph, Akash Deep and Reece Topley, but none of them are particularly good in slog over situations.

Skipper Faf du Plessis and star batter Virat Kohli, who is returning to competitive cricket after a two-month break, will once again have to shoulder the batting responsibility. They are set to open together, but this time the addition of Cameron Green might act as a protection plan if one of them or both of them fail to get going.

The CSK also have two wily domestic campaigners in pacers Deepak Chahar and Shardul Thakur. However, Sri Lankan slinger Matheesha Pathirana will miss initial matches after failing to recover from a hamstring injury he suffered during the recent T20I series against Bangladesh. But those little scratches on the CSK machine do not make the task of RCB any easier. To understand it better, RCB have not beaten CSK at this venue since 2008.

It's the presence of a clutch of all-rounders and spinners who can use the abrasive Chidambaram Stadium pitch to the hilt. The likes of Ravindra Jadeja, Mitchell Santner, Moeen Ali, Maheesh Theekshana can make even the best dance to their tunes in Chennai.

It will be interesting to see how Ruturaj Gaikwad manages the task of leading CSK, a legacy team that carries massive levels of expectations from fans every season. However, Gaikwad has a winning formula at his hand, laid out so successfully over the years by Dhoni.

The M.A. Chidambaram stadium is ready to host the #TATAIPL 2024 opener

@ChennaiIPL @RCBTweets

8 PM IST
https://t.co/4n69KTTxCB
Official IPL App#CSKvRCB pic.twitter.com/bGz3DDdh4h

— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) March 22, 2024

The CSK have placed enormous faith in new recruit Rachin Ravindra in the absence of Devon Conway, who will miss the initial part of IPL due to a thumb injury. The CSK have more Kiwi flavour in Daryl Mitchell, a hard-hitting middle-order batter and a handy seamer. In batting, they can also look to bank on the experience of Ajinkya Rahane and the exuberance of opener Gaikwad, who is entering the IPL after top-scoring for Maharashtra in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy.

The Super Kings have been the torch-bearers of success in the IPL under Dhoni, whose IPL career has reached its final chapter. While his cricketing brain is still immune to advancing years, the passing summers have caught up with his reflexes as a batsman. So, the younger names will have to step up.

Brace yourselves for the Grand Start of #TATAIPL 2024!

It's the Chennai Super Kings who will take on the Royal Challengers Bengaluru in an epic Opening Clash

Who are you backing to start their campaign on a high? #CSKvRCB | @ChennaiIPL | @RCBTweets pic.twitter.com/gWrajCCxVp

— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) March 22, 2024

CSK: Ruturaj Gaikwad (C), MS Dhoni, Moeen Ali, Deepak Chahar, Tushar Deshpande, Shivam Dube, Rajvardhan Hangargekar, Ravindra Jadeja, Ajay Mandal, Mukesh Choudhary, Ajinkya Rahane, Shaik Rasheed, Mitchell Santner, Simarjeet Singh, Nishant Sindhu, Prashant Solanki, Maheesh Theekshana, Rachin Ravindra, Shardul Thakur, Daryl Mitchell, Sameer Rizvi, Mustafizur Rahman and Avanish Rao Aravelly.

RCB: Faf du Plessis (c), Glenn Maxwell, Virat Kohli, Rajat Patidar, Anuj Rawat, Dinesh Karthik, Suyash Prabhudessai, Will Jacks, Mahipal Lomror, Karn Sharma, Manoj Bhandage, Mayank Dagar, Vijaykumar Vyshak, Akash Deep, Mohammed Siraj, Reece Topley, Himanshu Sharma, Rajan Kumar, Cameron Green, Alzarri Joseph, Yash Dayal, Tom Curran, Lockie Ferguson, Swapnil Singh and Saurav Chauhan.

On the other hand, the Royal Challengers, who recently grabbed their maiden title through Women's Premier League, will be eager to add a first IPL title to their shelf. However, they have their own challenges to master.

Beyond the emotional whirlpool that surrounds Dhoni handing over captaincy to Gaikwad, CSK and RCB will have to find some early answers to some deep questions as they attempt to enter a rarefied territory. The Super Kings are five-time champions, and a sixth title will put them in a space where no team has entered so far, not even Mumbai Indians, who also have five IPL trophies.

Ruturaj Gaikwad was announced to be the CSK captain on the eve of the match day. MS Dhoni is expected to retire at the end of this season and it seems the unanticipated move, just a day before the start of new season, has been taken for a smooth transition.

The high-stakes match between cross-city rivals Chennai Super Kings and Royal Challengers Bengaluru in Chennai on Friday will not only usher in IPL 2024 but also a new dawn for the defending champions with iconic MS Dhoni handing over the captaincy to Ruturaj Gaikwad.

The Indian Premier League 2024 kicks off tonight! It will be a blockbuster game between defending champions Chennai Super Kings and Royal Challengers Bangalore at MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai. Stay connected for the live scores and updates related to the game.