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CSK 2020: Same Policy, Similar Returns?

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IPL 2020 CSK Chennai Super Kings Same Policy Similar Returns
Background image By Chandrachoodan Gopalakrishnan – Own work, CC BY 3.0 Wikimedia Commons

Chennai Super Kings will enter the auctions with a clear set of plans and the to-dos in front of them.

Because no matter what the perception around their squad is at all points of time, the management of the CSK is shrewd enough to have a formulated, well-thought-out plan in front of them. However, for their fans, there is a lot to wonder about.

IPL 2018 Comeback & The Win

It is no secret that when CSK made their comeback in 2018, their sole objective was to emerge victorious in that season and have a run of successful campaigns of a few years before going for an all-out revamp.

However, unlike other teams who still play their cards rather cautiously, pragmatically and are content with conceding away some ground to the opposition in a low-risk move; CSK did the exact opposite.

 

They went all-out in their vision, packed up their squad with players who had a collective threshold of not more than three years and who were experienced enough to deal with precarious situations whenever they encounter one during the course of the season.

There was no looking back, there was going to be no hiccups, no if-buts. They marched towards the IPL title in 2018 through some style, swagger and a lot of substance.

IPL 2019 Waning Prowess

Unfortunately, though, 2019 did not present such a pleasant picture for the franchise. Regardless of anything, they played in the finals and lost it by only a single run but when one does a complete overview of the season; it was anything but convincing.

Whilst in 2018 they had different players emerging and taking the team over the line on different occasions, 2019 put forward a peculiar flurry of matches where none of the old-hands were able to up their game at that given moment.

Maybe, it was a sign of their waning prowess, or them approaching the fag end or the weakened closure of their careers.

If not for MS Dhoni, CSK stood no chance to end up where they eventually did in the IPL 2019.

IPL 2020 Approach

So, does their plan to approach the 2020 season of the IPL in a similar manner make them suspect to the further disintegration of their collective ability to win matches?

Maybe, it does. CSK is currently carrying a middle-order comprising of the likes of Suresh Raina and Kedar Jadhav, two players who haven’t been at the best of their forms in recent times.

Dwayne Bravo and Ravindra Jadeja constitute the lower-middle order. The former has a very all-or-nothing approach with the willow but Jadeja undoubtedly has improved and showcased his talent with the bat vastly in recent times.

MS Dhoni is a vital cog in the middle. But, it needs to be ensured that the captain isn’t deserted of any support and rather overburdened with a responsibility like it so happened in the batting order.

Hence, it was being looked forward that promising individuals like Dhruv Shorey and Sam Billings would be gradually given crucial roles in the team but as the team released these two players last month; it has become clearer that CSK are looking to win the title in the upcoming season before vacating the majority of the squad ahead of the mega-auctions for the 2021 season.

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The CSK Effect

It is often said that no matter how dreary a form that a player must be undergoing at some point in time, they always tend to find their touchback when they associate themselves with the CSK. It is not a blatant, pompous notion though.

 

The Super Kings do create an environment so conducive for any player, and team chemistry, the bond between them, clarity and charisma emanated by the skipper that some way or the other, the players eventually deliver adequately for them. You may call it the CSK effect!

Current State

Do the CSK (Chennai Super Kings) need to rethink a part of their strategy? It could be the case. They let go of one of the most looked forward to young talents in India in Shorey, but they still have the services of Ruturaj Gaikwad.

Mitchell Santner could be now given a longer run and possibly open the batting too, as Simon Doull suggested during the course of last season.

Deepak Chahar has further proven his mettle in recent times. The current state of the CSK squad is such that it has the potential of completely wearing off during the time of the long season as it happened last time around.

Except these three though, they have no combative young gun waiting in the wings to make their way into the squad.

Targeting a couple of individuals who are in their early 20s who could straightaway be drafted into the playing XI would do the team a world of good as they can finally have some backups for a couple of shaky individuals, not at the best of their forms since the last season.

CSK Overturning Popular Notions Since Years

One of the anomalies that the CSK has put forth historically, quite contrary to other examples is the fact that they are almost always successful in overturning popular notions.

They have never really had a star-studded squad like that of the Mumbai Indians and the Royal Challengers Bangalore and neither have they had an influx of present-day Indian team stars like the current Delhi Capitals.

More often than not, CSK’s bowling unit has been downright average on paper but has always tended to together emerge as a more superior force when compared to other teams.

The primary credit for that should be asserted towards the captain as the sort of consistency in outlook towards the game that he maintains enables a team to gradually find their rhythm and form a stern alliance together to battle the seemingly threatening oppositions.

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Conclusion

Hence, despite my concerns being that CSK needs to be wary of the recent patterns that have shown they might encounter rough obstacles on their way with the above-stated perspective towards the upcoming season; I also need to reiterate the observation that MS Dhoni, solely as a captain and a strategist has always managed to be two steps ahead of his closest rival without anyone even getting a whiff of what is happening.

Surely, he was vocal of how the team might need some changes at the end of the last season and either way, there could be a change of personnel or a difference in outlook; because, no matter how undeniably a genius and master that MSD has been of the limited-overs game, he definitely requires a trustworthy, qualitative set of other individuals in the squad to claim their fourth IPL title.

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