Mumbai: Chennai Super Kings (CSK) face Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in the season opener of IPL 2022 here at Wankhede Stadium.

Both teams' fans are eagerly waiting for the opening match. The IPL 2022 will kick start from today.

The CSK has defeated the KKR in the final. CSK has a new captain, Ravindra Jadeja. M.S. Dhoni has handover the captaincy to him on Thursday.

The defending champion is playing without its star performers in the last season. Faf du Plessis, Shardul Thakur and Josh Hazlewood were played last season.  Meanwhile, the side will also have some new faces with Devon Conway and Adam Milne joining ranks.

CSK is largely dependent upon Ruturaj Gaikwad, Dhoni, Jadeja and Ambati Rayudu in the upcoming game. Star all-rounder Moeen Ali will be missing the opener vs KKR.

KKR also have a new captain with Shreyas Iyer replacing Eoin Morgan as skipper. KKR purchased Iyer for a huge sum of Rs 12.25 crore during the mega auction this year. Even KKR also missed the players of last season. Shubman Gill, Rahul Tripathi and Lockie Ferguson are not a part of KKR this time.

The likes of Nitish Rana, Venkatesh Iyer, Sunil Narine will be crucial to KKR's ambitions this season.

Both sides have faced each other a total of 28 times, with CSK coming out on top with 18 wins. KKR have won nine times and one match ended as a no-result encounter.

Last season, both sides faced each other thrice and CSK came out on top in all occasions, including the IPL 2021 final.