With just days left for the high-stakes clash between Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB), anticipation is building for one of the most awaited matches of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025. The legendary "Thala" MS Dhoni will go head-to-head with his longtime friend, "King" Virat Kohli, at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai.
Ahead of the match, both teams have been training at Chepauk, aiming to secure their second consecutive victory. RCB started their campaign with a win against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), while CSK defeated Mumbai Indians (MI) at home.
As the teams train in full swing, RCB took to social media to share pictures of Kohli interacting with young CSK fans at the venue. He was seen posing for pictures and signing autographs for supporters who had gathered to watch him practice in the nets.
Captioning the post, RCB wrote:"Chepauk’s love - VK’s heartwarming gesture... ???????? ????, ?????? ????, ????? ????, ???? ????? ?????? - ???? VK, OG fan favourite ?????!"?(Translation: "Be it Bangalore, Chennai, Delhi, or anywhere else – our VK, the OG fan favorite!")
RCB has historically struggled to secure a victory against CSK at Chepauk. Their last win at this venue dates back to the inaugural IPL season in 2008, with Virat Kohli being the only player from the current squad who was part of that triumph.
As IPL 2025 marks the league's 18th season, many fans are hopeful that this could finally be the year Kohli's iconic jersey number 18 leads RCB to their long-awaited championship title.
As for tickets to the highly anticipated clash, they went on sale Tuesday morning and were snapped up within minutes. CSK management had announced that tickets, priced between ?1,700 and ?7,500, would be available through their official website. However, due to overwhelming demand, the website experienced a massive surge in traffic, with over 3 lakh fans flooding the waiting queue within seconds of bookings opening.
Royal Challengers Bengaluru squad:?Virat Kohli, Philip Salt, Devdutt Padikkal, Rajat Patidar (c), Jitesh Sharma (w), Liam Livingstone, Tim David, Krunal Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Josh Hazlewood, Yash Dayal, Swapnil Singh, Lungi Ngidi, Romario Shepherd, Manoj Bhandage, Rasikh Dar Salam, Nuwan Thushara, Jacob Bethell, Suyash Sharma, Mohit Rathee, Swastik Chikara, Abhinandan Singh.
Chennai Super Kings squad:?Ruturaj Gaikwad (c), Devon Conway, Rachin Ravindra, Vijay Shankar, Ravindra Jadeja, Shivam Dube, MS Dhoni (w), Sam Curran, Ravichandran Ashwin, Matheesha Pathirana, Kamlesh Nagarkoti, Nathan Ellis, Mukesh Choudhary, Rahul Tripathi, Deepak Hooda, Khaleel Ahmed, Jamie Overton, Shaik Rasheed, Anshul Kamboj, Shreyas Gopal, Noor Ahmad, Gurjapneet Singh, Ramakrishna Ghosh, Andre Siddarth C, Vansh Bedi.
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