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IPL 2021 Chennai Super Kings (CSK) Preview: Final Hurrah For MS Dhoni & Suresh Raina?

Chennai Super Kings Preview – IPL 2021.

April 2, 2011—”Dhoni finishes it off in style…India lift the World Cup after 28 years.” Exactly 10 years from the World Cup victory, it is possibly the final time we will see captain MS Dhoni & his eternal partner in crime, Suresh Raina.

After a disappointing 2020 season, do MS Dhoni & Suresh Raina have one final memory for the fans?

Also Read: MS Dhoni & Suresh Raina retire: A Tribute, IPL 2021 Auctions Review

IPL History

2010, 2011, 2018 – (Champions)2008, 2012, 2013, 2015, 2019 (Runners Up), 2009, 2014 (3rd)

How Did They Do Last Year?

7th. 6 wins, 8 losses. Loss of Suresh Raina & Harbhajan Singh before the tournament and never really in contention. The athletic Faf du Plessis & Ruturaj Gaikwad were the only positives.

Injury & COVID-19 News

Josh Hazlewood has pulled out of IPL 2021. The bio-bubble effect is taking a toll on players’.

Complete Chennai Super Kings Squad

Batsman: Ruturaj Gaikwad, Cheteshwar Pujara, Suresh Raina, Ambati Rayudu, C Hari Nishaanth, Narayan Jagadeesan,

WK: MS Dhoni, Robin Uthappa

All-Rounders: Krishnappa Gowtham, Ravindra Jadeja

Spinners: Ravisrinivasan Sai Kishore, Karn Sharma

Fast Medium: Shardul Thakur, Deepak Chahar, KM Asif, Harishankar Reddy, Bhagath Verma

Overseas: Moeen Ali, Dwayne Bravo, Sam Curran, Faf du Plessis, Imran Tahir, Lungi Ngidi, Mitchell Santner

*Josh Hazlewood (withdrawn)

Predicted CSK XI

1. Faf Du Plessis, 2. Ambati Rayudu, 3. Suresh Raina, 4. Ruturaj Gaikwad/Robin Uthappa, 5. MS Dhoni (C/WK), 6. Ravindra Jadeja, 7. Moeen Ali/Dwayne Bravo, 8. Sam Curran, 9. Deepak Chahar, 10. Shardul Thakur, 11. Imran Tahir

Watch Out For

  • Shardul Thakur – Since the historic India vs Australia series, Shardul Thakur has been India’s X-factor, taking crucial wickets in the middle overs. The highest wicket-taker in both the England T20Is & ODIs, he is one to watch out for.
  • Youngsters Tamil Nadu won the Syed Mushtaq Ali this year with Hari Nishaanth, Jagadeesan, and S Rai Kishore. With Ruturaj’s coming of age in IPL 2020, these bunch will give CSK the much needed age balance.

Where Can Things Go Wrong For the Super Kings?

  • The lack of out and out pace – Thakur, Chahar, Sam Curran, & Dwayne Bravo are all smart bowlers, but none have pace to send shivers through the opposition batsmen. With 8/14 of CSKs games at historically high scoring venues of Mumbai & Bangalore, I am not sure if they have enough variation in their attack. Tahir, R Sai Kishore, Jadeja, Gowtham, Moeen Ali, Santner, Karn Sharma would be a dream attack in Chennai, but no home advantage in COVID induced era has thrown their plans off.

Also Read: 7 Things that Went Wrong With CSK in 2020, CSK All-Time XI

Venues & Fixtures

Venues

Mumbai – 5 matches, Delhi – 4 matches , Bangalore – 3 matches , Kolkata – 2 matches

Fixtures

*Note: There is no home advantage in IPL 2021. Here is how “Home vs Away” is divided.

  • 10 April: CSK vs DC (Mumbai)
  • 16 April: PBKS vs CSK (Mumbai)
  • 19 April: CSK vs RR (Mumbai)
  • 21 April: KKR vs CSK (Mumbai)
  • 25 April: CSK vs RCB (Mumbai)
  • 28 April: CSK vs SRH (Delhi)
  • 1 May: MI vs CSK (Delhi)
  • 5 May: RR vs CSK (Delhi)
  • 7 May: SRH vs CSK (Delhi)
  • 9 May: CSK vs PBKS (Bangalore)
  • 12 May: CSK vs KKR (Bangalore)
  • 16 May: CSK vs MI (Bangalore)
  • 21 May: DC vs CSK (Kolkata)
  • 23 May: RCB vs CSK (Kolkata)
  • 25 May: Qualifier 1 (Ahmedabad)
  • 26 May: Eliminator (Ahmedabad)
  • 28 May: Qualifier 2 (Ahmedabad)
  • 30 May: Final (Ahmedabad)

Prediction

  • Return of Raina, addition of Uthappa/Pujara, & youngsters might bolster the lineup, but the lack of home advantage would be too much to cope with. If they can win a few of the first 5 matches in Mumbai, they should have a settled lineup in Delhi.
  • Game Plan: Simple. Win at least 3 out of the first 5. Otherwise out of the reckoning early.
Prediction6th
Most Runs Ambati Rayudu
Most WicketsShardul Thakur
Emerging PlayerR Sai Kishore
Surprise PackageRobin Uthappa
X FactorShardul Thakur
Broken Cricket DreamMS Dhoni, Imran Tahir retire forever?
Chennai Super Kings Preview Predictions

What do you think of the Chennai Super Kings Preview? Your First XI? Will they make the IPL 2021 qualifiers?

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Copyright (2021: 4/3/2021)– @Nitesh Mathur, aka Nit-X – bcd@brokokencricketdreams.com

Indian Premier League Auction 2021 Review: Was Maxwell Overpriced & Alex Hales Unlucky?

Indian Premier League Auction 2021 – It is time for yet another iteration of the IPL.

The IPL held just last September provided joy to many amidst the pandemic, provided several life lessons, and had its share of Super Overs. Now, in the final season before the overhaul and big auction (may expand to 9 or 10 teams in 2022), a short auction was held last week.

The auction had its moments—Chris Morris, the most expensive player EVER, RCB splurging on lower order allrounders, and Sunrisers just present for the participation points (only bought 3 players).

Here is our review of Indian Premier League Auction 2021: The winners, the losers, early predictions, and expected starting XIs.

Also Read: Top 75 Indian Players: Depth of Indian Cricket, Everything You Need To Know About the PSL Quickly

IPL Auction 2021: Players Sold By Country

Here is a quick review of all the international players sold by country.

  • Afghanistan (Afg): Mujeeb Ur Rahman
  • Australia (Aus): Steven Smith, Ben Cutting, Glenn Maxwell, Dan Christan, Riley Meredith, Nathan Coulter Nile, Jhye Richardson, Moises Henriques
  • Bangladesh (Ban): Shakib Al Hasan, Mustafizur Rahman
  • England (Eng): Moeen Ali, Tom Curran, Sam Billings, Dawid Malan, Liam Livingstone
  • New Zealand (NZ): Kyle Jamieson, Adam Milne, Jimmy Neesham
  • South Africa (SA): Chris Morris, Marco Jansen
  • West Indies (WI): Fabian Allen

Australia were the big gainers with 8 picks (even though the likes of Aaron Finch and Marcus Labuschagne did not find a team), while Sri Lanka had 0 picks. It seems that the era of West Indies T20 freelance monopoly is coming to an end. England is snatching this tag given their marvelous limited overs depth.

Indian Premier League Auction 2021: Auction Highlights, Starting XI, and Early Predictions

  • *Note: The prices are in Indian Rupees as in the auction (Conversion: $1 U.S. dollar = 73 Rupees)
  • *Teams highlighted in their respective jersey colors

Chennai Super Kings (CSK)

Auction Highlights

  • Indian Internationals: Cheteshwar Pujara (50 lac)
  • Indian Uncapped: Krishnappa Gowtham (9.25 crore), Harishankar Reddy (20 lac), Bhagath Verma (20 lac), C Hari Nishanth (20 lac)
  • Foreign Recruits: Moeen Ali – Eng (7 crore)

Verdict: Pujara finally gets an IPL deal while Gowtham & Moeen Ali can add the much needed zeal in the CSK lineup. Balanced bowling line up, local Chennai lads in the squad who lifted the Syed Mustaq Ali Trophy, and experience in the batting. Final round for Dhoni, Bravo, Uthappa, and Tahir?

Early Prediction: Barely miss the top 4 due to net run rate (The irony)

Expected Starting XI

1. Faf Du Plessis, 2. Ambati Rayudu, 3. Suresh Raina, 4. Ruturaj Gaikwad/Robin Uthappa, 5. MS Dhoni (C/WK), 6. Ravindra Jadeja, 7. Moeen Ali/Sam Curran, 8. Deepak Chahar, 9. Shardul Thakur/ K Gowtham, 10. Imran Tahir, 11. Josh Hazlewood

Squad: Dwayne Bravo, Lungi Ngidi, Mitchell Santner, R Sai Kishore, Cheteshwar Pujara, Narayan Jagadeesan, Karn Sharma, KM Asif, C Hari Nishanth, Harisankar Reddy, K Bhagath Varma

Delhi Capitals (DC)

Auction Highlights

  • Indian Internationals: Umesh Yadav (1 crore)
  • Indian Uncapped: Ripal Patel (20 lac), Vishnu Vinod (20 lac), Lukman Meriwala (20 lac), M Siddharth (20 lac)
  • Foreign Recruits: Steven Smith – Aus (2.2 crore), Tom Curran (5.25 crore), Sam Billings (2 crore) – Eng

Verdict: Good buys for the reserves with Umesh, Steve Smith, Tom Curran, and Billings (Smith most likely to warm the bench). Settled XI, great balance, but can they capture the big moments and maintain momentum?

Early Prediction: The 2020 finalists go one step further? Champions?

Expected Starting XI

  1. Shikhar Dhawan, 2. Prithvi Shaw, 3. Shimron Hetmyer, 4, Shreyar Iyer (C), 5. Rishabh Pant (WK), 6. Marcus Stoinis, 7. Axar Patel, 8. Ravichandran Ashwin, 9. Kagiso Rabada, 10. Anrich Nortje, 11. Amit Mishra/Ishant Sharma/Umesh Yadav

Squad: Ajinkya Rahane, Steven Smith, Sam Billings (WK), Tom Curran, Chris Woakes, Avesh Khan, Lukman Meriwala, Lalit Yadav, Manimaran Siddharth, Praveen Dubey, Ripal Patel, Vishnu Vinod (WK)

Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR)

Auction Highlights

  • Indian Internationals: Karun Nair (50 lac), Harbhajan Singh (2 crore), Pawan Negi (50 lac – 1 T20I)
  • Indian Uncapped: Sheldon Jackson (20 lac), Vaibhav Arora (20 lac), Venkatesh Iyer (20 lac)
  • Foreign Recruits: Shakib Al Hasan – Ban (3.2 crore), Ben Cutting – Aus (75 lac)

Verdict: Shakib & Ben Cutting big steals for KKR, but not too sure about Harbhajan Singh & Pawan Negi? Envious finishing prowess, inexperienced Indian fast bowlers the concern, but the real question is—will Brendon McCullum’s notes produce the correct line-up?

Early Prediction: Top 4 Finish

Expected Starting XI

  1. Shubman Gill, 2. Rahul Tripathi/Karun Nair, 3. Nitish Rana, 4. Shakib Al Hasan, 5. Dinesh Karthik (WK), 6. Eoin Morgan (C), 7. Andre Russell/ Ben Cutting, 8. Pat Cummins/ Lockie Ferguson, 9. Kamlesh Nagarkoti/Pawan Negi, 10.Varun Chakravarthy, 11. Prasidh Krishna/Kuldeep Yadav

Squad: Shivam Mavi, Sunil Narine, Tim Seifert (WK), Harbhajan Singh, Rinku Singh, Sandeep Warrier, Sheldon Jackson, Vaibhav Arora, Venkatesh Iyer

Mumbai Indians (MI)

Auction Highlights

  • Indian Internationals: Piyush Chawla (2.4 crore)
  • Indian Uncapped: Yudhvir Singh (20 lac), Arjun Tendulkar (20 lac)
  • Foreign Recruits: Adam Milne (3.2 crore), Jimmy Neesham (50 lac) – NZ, Nathan Coulter-Nile (5 crore), Marco Jansen (20 lac) – SA

Verdict: Backups in the form of Chawla, Milne, Neesham & Zaheer Khan the mastermind behind the 20 year old left arm pacer, Marco Jansen. IPL 2021 is just an exercise to see how many different ways Mumbai Indians can come with to win the trophy.

Early Prediction: Just to change things a bit, they fail to qualify for the Top 4. Champions in the reverse direction (Who am I kidding?)

Expected Starting XI

  1. Rohit Sharma (C), 2. Quinton de Kock (WK), 3. Ishan Kishan (WK), 4. Suryakumar Yadav, 5. Kieron Pollard, 6. Krunal Pandya, 7. Hardik Pandya, 8. Rahul Chahar, 9. Trent Boult, 10. Jasprit Bumrah, 11. Adam Milne/ Nathan Coulter-Nile

Squad: Dhawal Kulkarni, Saurabh Tiwary, Jimmy Neesham, Jayant Yadav, Aditya Tare (WK), Chris Lynn, Anmolpreet Singh, Anukul Roy, Arjun Tendulkar, Marco Jansen, Mohsin Khan, Yudhvir Singh Charak

Punjab Kings (PBKS)

Auction Highlights

  • Indian Internationals:
  • Indian Uncapped: Shahrukh Khan (5.25 crore), KC Cariappa (20 lac), Jalaj Saxena (30 lac), Utkarsh Singh (20 lac), Saurabh Kumar (20 lac)
  • Foreign Recruits: Jhye Richardson – Aus (14 crore), Riley Meredith – Aus (8 crore), Dawid Malan – Eng (1.5 crore), Moises Henriques – Aus (4.2 crore), Fabian Allen – WI (75 lac)

Verdict: Dawid Malan, current word’s best T20 batsman, & Fabian Allen were quite the deal. Looking forward to Shahrukh Khan, the finisher, and hopefully Jalaj Saxena, the first class veteran. Definite contenders this time around. The change of name to PBKS to bring the luck?

Early Prediction: Top 4 Finish

Expected Starting XI

  1. KL Rahul (C/WK), 2. Mayank Agarwal, 3. Dawid Malan/Chris Gayle, 4. Nicholas Pooran, 5. Deepak Hooda, 6. Shahrukh Khan, 7. Fabian Allen/ Moises Henriques, 8. Arshdeep Singh, 9. Chris Jordan/ Jhye Richardson, 10. Mohammad Shami, 11. Ravi Bishnoi

Squad: Murugan Ashwin, Prabhsimran Singh, Riley Meredith, Ishan Porel, Sarfaraz Khan (WK), Jalaj Saxena, Harpreet Brar, Darshan Nalkande, Saurabh Kumar, Utkarsh Singh

Rajasthan Royals (RR)

Auction Highlights

  • Indian Internationals: Shivam Dube (4.4 crore)
  • Indian Uncapped: Chetan Sakariya (1.2 crore), Kuldip Yadav (20 lac), Akash Singh (20 lac)
  • Foreign Recruits: Chris Morris – SA (16.25 crore), Mustafizur Rahman – Ban (1 crore), Liam Livingstone (75 lac)

Verdict: All weak points from IPL 2020 fixed. With Shivam Dube and Chris Morris, the double Rs may not have to rely on Tewatia magic alone. The foreign 4 pick themselves, but Miller, Livingstone, the Fizz, and Andrew Tye are T20 specialists themselves.

Early Prediction: Top 4 Finish…in the first half. Then momentum is lost, and they end up in the bottom two. The usual.

Expected Starting XI

  1. Jos Buttler, 2. Yashasvi Jaiswal/ Manan Vohra, 3. Sanju Samson (C/WK), 4. Shivam Dube, 5. Ben Stokes, 6. Rahul Tewatia, 7. Chris Morris, 8. Jofra Archer, 9. Shreyas Gopal, 10. Kartik Tyagi, 11. Mayank Markande/Jaydev Unadkat

Squad: Riyan Parag, David Miller, Liam Livingstone, Mustafizur Rahman, Andrew Tye, KC Cariappa, Anuj Rawat, Chetan Sakariya,

Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB)

Auction Highlights

  • Indian Internationals:
  • Indian Uncapped: KS Bharat – WK (20 lac), Sachin Baby (20 lac), Rajit Patidar (20 lac), Mohammed Azharuddeen (20 lac), Suyash Prabhudessai (20 lac)
  • Foreign Recruits: Kyle Jamieson – NZ (15 crore), Glenn Maxwell – Aus (14.25 crore), Daniel Christian – Aus (4.8 crore)

Verdict: They won the Indian Premier League 2021 Auction battle—Maxwell, Kyle Jamieson, & Dan Christian. Finishing problems fixed. With basically the entire Indian bowling lineup returning from Australia’s success, promising uncapped openers, & the golden touch of Christian, RCB may finally cross the line.

Early Prediction: Finalists.

Expected Starting XI

1. Mohammed Azharudeen, 2. Devdutt Padikkal, 3. Virat Kohli (C), 4. AB de Villiers (WK), 5. Glenn Maxwell, 6. Daniel Christian, 7. Washington Sundar, 8. Kyle Jamieson/Daniel Sams, 9. Mohammed Siraj, 10. Navdeep Saini, 11. Yuzvendra Chahal

Squad: Harshal Patel, Joshua Phillippe (WK), Kane Richardson, Sachin Baby, Shahbaz Ahmed, KS Bharat (WK), Pavan Deshpande, Rajat Patidar, Suyash Prabhudessai

Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH)

Auction Highlights

  • Indian Internationals: Kedar Jadhav (2 crore)
  • Indian Uncapped: Jagadeesha Suchith (30 lac)
  • Foreign Recruits: Mujeeb Ur Rahman (1.5 crore) – Afg

Verdict: Kedhar Jadhav is a good backup choice for Vijay Shankar in case of injuries & Nabi-Rashid-Mujeeb together in Hyderabad, wow! They have the options, but can they figure their best XI in time?

Early Prediction: SRH lose several matches at the start, out of contention early, but will break the dreams of the teams in the middle at the backend of the tournament. Bottom 4 Finish.

Expected Starting XI

  1. David Warner (C), 2. Wriddhiman Saha (WK), 3. Manish Pandey, 4. Kane Williamson, 5. Vijay Shankar/Kedar Jadhav, 6. Priyam Garg/Abdul Samad, 7. Rashid Khan, 8. Jason Holder/Mohammad Nabi/ Mujeeb-Ur-Rahman, 9. Bhuvneshwar Kumar, 10. T Natarajan, 11. Sandeep Sharma

Squad: Khaleel Ahmed, Siddharth Kaul, Mitchell Marsh, Shahbaz Nadeem, Shrevats Goswami (WK), Abhishek Sharma, Basil Tamphi, Jagadeesha Suchith, Virat Singh

The Broken Dream: Players That Went Unsold

Since this is the final IPL before the big auction in 2022, this small auction was expected to have several players unsold.

Broken Dreams of IPL 2021 Auctions:

  • Hanuma Vihari—hero of Sydney. Unpicked in the first couple of rounds, his name was called again for the final auction round. Still unsold. Insult to injury. Literally. (The only prominent currently in the Indian setup to not have a deal since Pujara was picked).
  • Aaron Finch—one of the best T20I players of all-time just could not manage a consistent IPL season.
  • Shaun Marsh, an end of an era. Along with Shane Watson, was the bright overseas star. KXIP stalwart in the early years, Orange Cap of IPL 2008, but could not buy any buyers.
  • Alex Hales. Enough said.

IPL Auction 2021: Entire Unsold List

Foreign: Alex Hales, Jason Roy, Evin Lewis, Aaron Finch, Glenn Phillips, Alex Carey, Kusal Perera, Sheldon Cottrell, Adil Rashid, Ish Sodhi, Qais Ahmad, Sandeep Lamichhane, Rovman Powell, Shaun Marsh, Corey Anderson, Devon Conway, Darren Bravo, Rassie van der Dussen, Martin Guptill, Marnus Labuschagne, Oshane Thomas, Billy Stanlake, Mitchell McClenaghan, Jason Behrendorff, Naveen Ul Haq, Ben Dwarshuis, Thisara Perera, Ben McDermott, Matthew Wade, Sean Abbott, Josh Inglish, Scott Kuggeleijn, Wayne Parnell, Reece Topley, Chris Green, Isuru Udana, George Linda, Jack Wildermuth, Gerald Coetzee, Tim David

Indian Internationals: Hanuma Vihari, Rahul Sharma, Gurkeerat Singh, Varun Aaron, Mohit Sharma

Indian Uncapped: Himanshu Rana, Gahlaut Singh, Atit Sheth, Himmat Singh, Vishnu Solanki, Ayush Badoni, Vivek Singh, Avi Barot, Kedhar Devdhar, Ankit Rajpoot, Mujtaba Yousuf, Kuldeep Sen, Tushar Deshpande, Karanveer Singh, Sudhesan Midhun, Tejas Baroka, Kaan Sharma, KL Shrijith, G Periyasamy, Siddhesh Lad, Tajinder Singh, Prerak Mankad, Simarjeet Singh, Chaitanya Bishnoi, Ajay Dev Goud, Harsh Tyagi, Pratyush Singh

Your Opinion Matters: Was Maxwell Overpriced & Hales Unlucky?

Let us know what you thought about the auction by commenting here below:

  1. Was Glenn Maxwell overpriced? Is 2021 the year or are we still carrying IPL 2014 nostalgia?
  2. The likes of Adil Rashid and Alex Hales do not find a team. First team England ditch Hales & now after top scoring in the BBL, no buyers. Contender for the unluckiest player of All-Time?
  3. Steal of the Auction: Shakib Al Hasan, Dawid Malan, Fabian Allen, or Ben Cutting?
  4. KKR’s buy of Harbhajan Singh? Why?

Here were my biggest winners and losers from Indian Premier League 2021 Auction. What did you think? What are YOUR predictions? Comment Below!

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Copyright (2021: 2/21/2021)– @Nitesh Mathur, aka Nit-X – bcd@brokokencricketdreams.com

Sources: Cricinfo

7 REASONS WHY CSK ARE STRUGGLING

CSK has now played 7 games and are ranked 7th with 2 wins and 5 losses in IPL 2020.

A team that has emerged victorious thrice and always qualified for the semi-finals or playoffs are second from the bottom at the half-way mark. Their impeccable record displayed below is in danger.

  • 2010, 2011, 2018 – (Champions), 2008, 2012, 2013, 2015, 2019 (Runners Up), 2009, 2014 (3rd)

From the golden days from 2008-2015 to the Dad’s Old Army comeback win in 2018, CSK have managed to find a way. After the pandemic and subsequent international retirements of MS Dhoni and Suresh Raina, something just does not feel right this time around.

Apart for Faf du Plessis’s acrobatics and consistency at the top of the order and the revelation in Sam Curran, nothing is going right for the Chennai Super Kings. Even Ravindra Jadeja is dropping catches and missing direct hits.

Let us find out why.

After the 7th game, here are 7 Reasons Why CSK Are Struggling.

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1. CSK Prepared for Chennai

Chennai went into the IPL 2020 auction with the MA Chidambaram Stadium (Chepauk) in mind. The pitches at this ground are known to be slow and turning.

At the 2020 IPL auction, CSK acquired Piyush Chawla (leg spinner) and R Sai Kishore (left arm orthodox) to bolster their already strong squad of spinners:

Imran Tahir, Mitchell Santner, Ravindra Jadeja, Karn Sharma, Harbhajan Singh along with Kedar Jadhav and Suresh Raina

Although Sam Curran and Josh Hazlewood were strong buys, CSK are currently lacking middle order stability and varied fast bowling options on these UAE pitches.

Some of the players they released? Mohit Sharma, Scott Kuggeleijn, David Willey and Sam Billings.

2. Harbhajan and Raina

Before the tournament started, concerns of the bio-secure bubble in CSK’s camp jolted their preparation.

Although 13 players tested positive and later recovered, the casualties were Suresh Raina and Harbhajan Singh. Both opted out of IPL 2020 for personal reasons.

What are we missing here? Let the stats tell you the story:

Raina: 193 matches, 5368 runs, best of 100*, 1-100/38-50s, and the arguably best IPL inning of all time.
Harbhajan: 160 matches, 150 wickets (5th highest), 7.05 economy, best of 5/18

Suresh Raina has been the best batsman in the IPL and an icon for CSK. CSK are missing a left-right combination at the top, a part-time spinner, and a wonderful fielder.

Without his services, CSK are clearly struggling.

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3. Injuries

Ambati Rayudu had led CSK to victory in the opening game with an unbeaten 71. A hamstring injury ruled him for the next couple of games, which further exposed CSK’s brittle middle order.

Add to that Dwayne Bravo’s knee injury that kept him out of the first five games, CSK really did not have much of a squad to play with.

Without four of their key players for the majority of the first 5 games, it is not difficult to see why CSK are in the current position.

4. Lack of Gametime

In March, the world stopped and so did cricket.

Courtesy England, cricket restarted in the middle of the summer. England, West Indies (international and CPL), Pakistan, Ireland, and Australia had all played some cricket.

Rajasthan Royals have Jos Buttler, Steven Smith, Jofra Archer, Tom Curran, and now Ben Stokes – all having played intense international cricket for the past few months.

CSK is just another story. Sam Curran and Josh Hazlewood (common theme, isn’t it?) are the only two players with decent domestic and international cricket behind them.

Most of the other players have retired from international cricket or domestic cricket. Players like Watson only play IPL and PSL in the entire year.

Dhoni has not played since that run-out. Yes, that one. You know exactly what I am talking about.

  • Dhoni’s previous game before the IPL? 9 July 2019
  • Ambati Rayudu? 17 November 2019
  • Murali Vijay, just a tad better. 9 December 2019
  • Kedar Jadhav – played 2 ODI’s in February 2020 with returns of 26*(15) and a patchy 9 (27) against New Zealand. Before that 25 December 2019.

That was 4 of CSK’s top 6 at one point. Just digest that for a second.

The other one in top 6 being Shane Watson, who except for one innings, has looked out of sorts.

5. Bravo

509 T20 wickets and 6331 runs. What a player.

Dwayne Bravo’s designated role is to be the death overs bowler and lower order finisher for CSK.

He was one of the players expected to be in rhythm with some game time under his belt from the CPL. What actually happened?

He sustained a knee injury in the later stages of the CPL with TKR’s unbeaten run to the top. He was in the team in the final but did not bat or ball.

Hence he missed the first few games for CSK. So apart from having a struggling top 6, CSK were also missing the services of talisman Dwayne Bravo at No. 7.

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6. Lack of Intent and Batting Order

Kedar Jadhav was brutally trolled on Twitter after his lackluster display against KKR a few days ago.

Botched chases have been common for CSK this year. Taking the game deep is no longer an option. Here is CSK’s score at the halfway stage (10 over mark) in each of their games:

  • 70/2 chasing 163 vs. Mumbai Indians (Won)
  • 82/4 chasing 217 vs. Rajasthan Royals (Lost)
  • 47/3 chasing 176 vs. Delhi Capitals (Lost)
  • 44/4 chasing 165 vs. Sunrisers Hyderabad (Lost)
  • 101/0 chasing 179 vs. Kings XI Punjab (Won)
  • 90/1 chasing 168 vs. Kolkata Knight Riders (Lost)
  • 47/2 chasing 170 vs. Royal Challengers Bangalore (Lost)

Two phrases that have come up in every post-match analysis thus far?

Lack of urgency and lack of intent. On air, Kevin Pietersen was extremely critical of Ambati Rayudu’s absence of intensity and energy in running between the wickets in his innings of 42 (40) against RCB.

In each game lost, there has been similar innings’ from the middle order.

  • Dhoni 9(12) (before hitting 3 sixes to get to 29 (17) and the team to 200 vs RR)
  • Vijay’s 10 (15) and Watson’s 14 (16) vs DC
  • Dhoni and Jadeja pushing the required rate up. Needed 78 off 24 before accelerating vs. SRH
  • Kedar Jadhav’s 7 (12) vs. KKR
  • Rayudu’s 40 (42) vs. RCB

The lack of game time is causing each batsman to bide their time, which is hurting the team’s overall performance. Maybe Sam Curran and Ravindra Jadeja should be pushed up the order in the next few games.

You can play for the Net Run Rate as much as you want….but you need the points on the Points Table in the first place for all that to even matter.

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7. Team Management And Aging Squad

CSK is filled with match-winners.

Stephen Fleming and MS Dhoni are known to back people even when they are struggling. The most famous example is the team management persisting with Shane Watson. Watson repaid the faith in 2018 qualifiers/finals and almost took them home in 2019 as well.

Even this year Shane Watson came back with an unbeaten 83*(53) after struggling initially.

The downside of backing match-winners? Players of the quality of Imran Tahir, Lungi Ngidi, Josh Hazlewood, and Mitchell Santner are warming the bench and young Indian talent like Jagadeesan not getting many chances.

And of course, the older the squad, the lower the fielding standards.

Where Can CSK Go From Here?

Is there still hope? Yes. CSK fan’s are recalling the 2010 campaign, when they came back from a similar position to win their maiden IPL trophy.

The Chennai Super Kings can still win, but they need to up their intensity, correct their batting order, put faith in youngsters, utilize the mid-season transfer window wisely, and some magic.

My take? Every great team has its ebbs and flows. Even a once-in-a-generation Spain football (soccer) team of the 2010 FIFA World Cup glory had to bow out in the group stages after an unbeaten run.

Every good thing comes to an end.

Some people are calling Shane Watson to retire. Others have been calling for Dhoni’s. I think it is time that the entire CSK team just retire.

Stephen Fleming and MS Dhoni have led CSK to greatness consistently for over a decade. It is time the Chennai Super Kings start afresh again.

2020 has been a grim year. CSK not qualifying for the playoffs will just set that in stone.

Sources: Cricinfo, IPLT20.com, Cricbuzz
Image Courtesy: Getty Images; Suresh Raina – Image courtesy of Public.Resource.Org via Creative Commons 2.0

CSK All-Time XI: Dad’s Army Most Consistent

CSK All-Time XI, let us start with the obvious. MS Dhoni and Suresh Raina – the twin retirements that shook the world. Now that international cricket is off their mind, who knows they might play even better!

In the All-Time CSK XI, Thala and chinna thala are the two pillars of CSK, but who else is a guarantee?

Even after the two year exodus, CSK has come back with the ‘Dad’s Army’ and won it in style. How long can do they with these old stars? Only time will tell.

CSK has ALWAYS made it to the playoffs—they are just that good. When the odds are in their favor, they win. When the odds are not in their favor, they definitely win.

Anyway, VOTE BELOW AND SHARE WITH YOUR FRIENDS!

Meanwhile, here is our All-Time CSK XI.

*Note: CSK were banned between 2016-2017, so these players played for other teams then.

The Catch

  • In slow turning Chennai pitches, Ashwin, Jadeja, Jakati, and Harbhajan have all played monumental roles – can you fit all four of them in?
  • At the top of the order, it seems CSK have a revolving door of Australians – Matthew Hayden made way for Mike Hussey, who was eventually replaced by Shane Watson (there is a Faf in the mix too). Who do you pick?

The Highlights

  • 2010, 2011, 2018 – (Champions), 2008, 2012, 2013, 2015, 2019 (Runners Up), 2009, 2014 (3rd)

MY CSK All-Time XI

  1. Mike Hussey (2008-2015)
  2. Murali Vijay (2009-2013, 2019)
  3. Suresh Raina (2008-2019)
  4. Ambati Rayudu (2018-2019)
  5. MS Dhoni (2008-2019) – Captain/WK
  6. Subramaniam Badrinath (2008-2013)
  7. Ravindra Jadeja (2012-2019)
  8. Albie Morkel (2008-2013)
  9. Dwayne Bravo (2011-2019)
  10. Ravichandran Ashwin (2009-2015)
  11. Imran Tahir (2018-2019)

Honorable Mention: Shane Watson (2018-2019), Deepak Chahar (2018-2019), Shadab Jakati (2009-2012), Faf du Plessis (2012-2019)

Audience Poll – CSK All-Time XI

  • Pick 11 players from the list – with 4 foreign players maximum.
  • You need to have a wicketkeeper and at least 5 bowling options.

[yop_poll id=”4″]

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For other IPL All-Time XIs, check this page out.

Sources: Cricinfo StatsCricinfo IPL All-Time XI

Image Courtesy: Ravindra Jadeja – Amrapahal Pahanswan / CC BY-SA 4.0; MS Dhoni – Pulkitsinha / CC BY-SA 2.0; Albie Morkel – YellowMonkey/Blnguyen / CC BY-SA 4.0; Matthew Hayden – Eva Rinaldi / CC BY-SA 2.0; Suresh RainaNAPARAZZI / CC BY-SA 2.0