Indian T20 League: Chennai's best starting XI

With the mega auction for the fifteenth edition of the league finally coming to an end, all teams are rearing to start the biggest T20 league in the world. As for the defending champions Chennai, they have put together a formidable squad. They managed to buy back several of their players. Thus, most of the individuals in their side are top-class. So what would be the ideal playing XI for the yellow army?

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1) Openers- Ruturaj Gaikwad and Devon Conway

After a stellar season in 2021, Ruturaj Gaikwad will be expected to repeat his heroics once again. However, this time around, he will be having a new opening partner, i.e. Devon Conway. In what turned out to be an absolute steal, Chennai purchased him at his base price. Conway is currently one of the best New Zealand players going around and thus, a lot is expected from him. Gaikwad and Conway could go on to form an ideal opening combination.

2) Middle-order- Moeen Ali, Robin Uthappa and Ambati Rayudu

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The middle-order has always been one of Chennai's stronger departments. Thus, the players like Moeen Ali and Robin Uthappa, who are good players of spin, shall bat at three and four respectively. Following them will be Ambati Rayudu, who has been playing for Chennai since 2018. The three batters will be handed to task to accelerate the innings whenever required. Besides, all of them have had their fair share of experience while playing in the middle overs.

3) All-rounders and Wicketkeeper- Ravindra Jadeja, MS Dhoni (C and WK) and Shivam Dube

Ravindra Jadeja has been superb with the bat of late. As a matter of fact, he finished several games for the four-time champions in 2021. Chennai's new recruit Shivam Dube is expected to provide the X factor in the XI. After which, Chennai's "Thala" MS Dhoni will once again entertain his fans. However, if he does find his mojo, the keeper-batter could very well bat ahead of the likes of Jadeja and Dube.

4) Bowlers- Deepak Chahar, Dwayne Bravo and Adam Milne

Such is the batting depth of this team that players like Deepak Chahar and Dwayne Bravo shall be playing as bowlers, and shall bat at nine and ten respectively. While Chahar shall bowl mostly in the powerplay overs, Bravo is expected to bowl at the death. Alongside them, New Zealand's Adam Milne shall cause the opposition batters some worry with the help of his extra pace.