IPL 2022: MS Dhoni’s Chennai Super Kings to face THIS team in opening match on March 26

MS Dhoni's CSK are expected to take on Shreyas Iyer-led KKR in the opening match of IPL 2022 on March 26. (Photo: BCCI/IPL)

The opening match of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022 is less than one month away and every cricket fan is eager to find out which will be the first clash on March 26. The first game of the 15th edition of the IPL is set to be a repeat of IPL 2022 final between MS Dhoni’s Chennai Super Kings and Shreyas Iyer-led Kolkata Knight Riders. Dhoni’s CSK came out on top last year to win the IPL title for the fourth time.

The governing council announced the two groups for the IPL 2022 on Friday but the full schedule of the tournament, which will culminate on May 29, is yet to be revealed.

“IPL will start with CSK vs KKR match. We have not made any changes to the existing norms of defending champions playing the first match next season. There will be 25% crowd present for the matches initially,” a senior BCCI official told InsideSport website.

The 10-team IPL 2022 will kick-off with Chennai Super Kings vs Kolkata Knight Riders game at the Wankhede Stadium on March 26. The Brabourne Stadium in Mumbai, Navi Mumbai’s DY Patil Stadium and Pune’s Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium are also scheduled to host games this season.

Mumbai Cricket Association’s ground in Bandra-Kurla Complex and Dadoji Kondadev Stadium in Thane have been identified as training facilities for the teams. “The 10 teams will play a total of 14 league matches (7 home matches and 7 away matches) totalling to 70 league matches, followed by the 4 playoff matches. Each team will play 5 teams twice and the remaining 4 teams only once (2 only home and 2 only away).

 “To decide on the above, teams have been assigned in two virtual groups based on the number of IPL Championships won followed by the number of Final matches played by the respective teams,” the BCCI said in a statement.