The inaugural match of IPL 2019 will take place on 23 March between Chennai Super Kings CSK and Royal Challengers Bangalore RCB at 6 PM IST. The venue will be the MA Chidambaram stadium (earlier known as Chepauk stadium) which happens to be the home ground of CSK. This match will set the tone for the next two months when Twenty20 Cricket and IPL 2019 will appear in all discussions from schools and colleges through to the boardrooms. There will be arguments on which side played better and the cricketing fraternity will analyze the results to pinpoint the culprit who messed things up and fans might take him to task via Twitter.

India Today reports the international players who are part of the Indian Premier League 2019 will be looking forward to some extra practice before the ICC World Cup begins in England and Wales. MS Dhoni and Virat Kohli are the rival captains of Chennai Super Kings and Royal Challengers Bangalore respectively. Dhoni and Kohli played together in 2nd ODI against Australia and helped India level the series

The international players in CSK and RCB

There are eight teams competing for the IPL 2019 trophy and each team has a sprinkling of players from other cricket-playing nations.

Some of them have been on the same team from the beginning, or have played in other teams. The list of international players in CSK and RCB this season are:

  • Royal Challengers Bangalore - AB de Villiers (South Africa), Heinrich Klaasen (South Africa), Marcus Stoinis (Australia), Colin de Grandhomme (New Zealand), Moeen Ali (England), Tim Southee (New Zealand), Nathan Coulter-Nile (Australia).
  • Chennai Super Kings - Faf du Plessis (South Africa), Sam Billings (England), Shane Watson (Australia), Dwayne Bravo (West Indies), David Willey (England), Imran Tahir (Pakistani-born South African), Mitchell Santner (New Zealand), Lungi Ngidi (South Africa).

The two teams clashed 22 times and CSK has won 14 of them while RCB has won only seven.

Moreover, Chennai Super Kings are the present titleholders and have already won it three times.

Military bands will perform at the Stadium

According to Sportstar, the match between CSK and RCB is the first home match in IPL 2019 for Chennai Super Kings. Tickets were sold out within hours on the opening day and proceeds from the sale will go to the families of the recent terror attack.

CSK captain MS Dhoni is an honorary lieutenant colonel of the Indian Territorial Army and military bands will perform at the Chepauk Stadium before the opening fixture. There will be representatives from the Indian Armed Forces who will be present to watch the match as invitees.
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