Chennai Super Kings will start their IPL 2022 campaign on the first night of the tournament. Their first match is against the Kolkata Knight Riders on March 26 at the Wankhede Stadium. However, as per reports, CSK will not have a full-strength squad for the first few games.
According to ESPNCricinfo, Deepak Chahar is set to miss the first phase of IPL 2022, and now the latest reports claim that Ruturaj Gaikwad and Dwaine Pretorius will also miss a few matches. While Chahar and Gaikwad are out with injuries, Dwaine will be on national duty.
The South African cricket team is scheduled to play an ICC Cricket World Cup Super League series and an ICC World Test Championship series against the Bangladesh cricket team soon. So Pretorius will be unavailable for the first week.
“Opening batter Ruturaj Gaikwad and pace spearhead Deepak Chahar were already ruled out for the first phase of IPL 2022, and now, South African all-rounder Dwaine Pretorius has also joined the list, albeit not owing to an injury,” a report by InsideSport states.
Chennai Super Kings will play two matches in the first week of IPL 2022
The Chennai Super Kings will play their first match of IPL 2022 on March 26 against the Kolkata Knight Riders, and then, they will lock horns with the Lucknow Super Giants on March 31. Their third match is on April 3 against the Punjab Kings. CSK will likely play with backup options in the first two games.
Considering that Gaikwad and Pretorius will be unavailable for the first week, they may play their first IPL 2022 match on April 3 versus the Punjab Kings. While Pretorius is not 100% confirmed to be a part of the CSK playing XI, Gaikwad will be an integral part of the CSK, having won the Orange Cap last year in the IPL.
