The 2022 edition of the Indian Premier League will kick off with a battle between CSK and KKR at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai this Saturday evening. Last year, the Chennai Super Kings and the Kolkata Knight Riders battled in the IPL 2021 Final, where CSK emerged victoriously and captured their fourth championship.
The Kolkata Knight Riders will be keen to avenge that defeat. However, most of the players have changed teams ahead of the 2022 edition of the Indian Premier League. Even the squads of CSK and KKR look very different.
The Chennai Super Kings and the Kolkata Knight Riders will kick off a new era in the IPL. Both teams will miss some key players due to various reasons. They would have almost finalized their playing XIs, and despite the unavailability of some players, the following two stars might miss out on a spot in the playing XI.
1. Mitchell Santner may not play for CSK against KKR
Mitchell Santner is one player who has been with the Chennai Super Kings franchise for a long time but has not received enough opportunities to play. Santner has warmed the benches because of Ravindra Jadeja’s presence.
Both Jadeja and Santner play similar roles. Since Jadeja is a better batter and an Indian player, CSK have preferred him. Santner may miss out because Devon Conway, Dwayne Bravo, Adam Milne and Chris Jordan might be CSK’s four overseas players.
2. Ajinkya Rahane
Ajinkya Rahane has a slight chance of missing out on the playing XI in case KKR decide to play Sunil Narine and Venkatesh Iyer as openers. Both have done well for KKR in that position.
The conditions at the Wankhede Stadium will be great for someone like Narine to score some quick valuable runs. Nitish Rana, Shreyas Iyer, Sam Billings, Mohammad Nabi and Andre Russell may complete the rest of the batting order for the Knight Riders.