How Chennai Super Kings have put up a top show
IPL 2020 was the first time that Chennai Super Kings did not make it to the play-offs in the history of the tournament. They were once again labelled Dad’s Army and fans were saying that Dhoni and Chennai’s time was up.
The biggest question asked by every fan was, will Chennai Super Kings bounce back in the 2021 season? And how well the threetime champions have bounced back. In the India leg, Chennai played seven games and won five. In the UAE leg, Chennai have won all their three games and are sitting at 16 points on top of the table with still four games to go. They have not let their guard down and would surely be in the top two as they need to win just one more game out of four left to secure their spot in the top two.
Now what has helped Chennai go top this year? England allrounder Moeen Ali, picked in the auction, has made important contributions in their wins. He has scored more than 261 runs at a strike rate of 145 and has picked up five crucial wickets.
Another reason for their success have been the starts provided by Ruturaj Gaikwad and Faf Du Plessis, who have, respectively, scored 362 runs at a strike-rate of 137, and 394 at a whopping strike rate of 141. They both have laid the platform for the middle order to build good scores for Chennai Super Kings.
The most important thing, Chennai’s IPL secret, as their batting coach Michael Hussey told me, is that they do not experiment with their squad and back them to the core. MS Dhoni, Ravindra Jadeja, Dwayne Bravo and Suresh Raina have been playing for CSK since long and their loyalty is seen on and off the field.
What separates CSK from the rest is that they believe in the process and, with it, come the results. No wonder CSK have won three titles and are on course for their fourth this year.