Chennai Super Kings, have defied the phrase of Yellow Yellow Dirty Fellow after being one of the most successful teams in IPL and mounting great experience and winning matches in some awesome style in the previous editions of the Indian Premier League but the IPL 2020 is different and poses a set of new challenges for all teams including CSK. How ready are CSK and what are the factors? And a look at how ‘The Chennai Super Kings 13’ were selected. SWOT ANALYSIS AND A LOT MORE UP NEXT!
Chennai Super Kings have majority of their matches in Dubai, more specifically 7 in Dubai, . The pitch in Dubai is one that is different from the other two and favours both batsmen and bowlers, unlike Sharjah and Abu Dhabi which mainly support more of spin. The ground is also a little pace friendly and hence, is different from the pitch at Chepauk. Chennai Super Kings have also had losses in the form of losing Harbhajan Singh from the squad and having uncertainty looming over the presence of Suresh Raina. There are also several benefits for CSK such as the composition of the other teams, matches in Sharjah and Abu Dhabi and the second half of the Indian Premier League and a considerable batting line up.
STRENGTHS
- Mahi is definitely CSK’s biggest strength and especially in such tough times as Mahendra Singh Dhoni is a captain who knows his team inside out and is always able to strike the right balance to help his team out and it seems as if an extra energy comes into him when the IPL starts. Chennai Super Kings have a lot of experience and talent and Mahi knows how to find the right players for each match and is very good at mixing up the order if required and trusting his players. So, Mahendra Singh Dhoni has always been a big asset and will continue to be so.
- The batting line up is not the best but is very strong and what is especially special is that the middle order is strong and the likes of Kedar Jadhav and M.S. Dhoni provide that support down the order to utilise the power play properly and go for the big hits which will be very essential in the UAE since the grounds are big and the grounds like Eden Gardens aren’t there. The batting line up will also help them in Dubai as the first few matches include the opening match especially will require the batting line up to be very strong. As the IPL will proceed, the pitch will be used a lot and it may start turning a bit and batsmen may not be that favoured by the time the end of the league stage is reached and hence, the batting line up will help them to get a good start.
- When it comes to bowling, they have a great bowling line up even for UAE since 7 of their matches are in Sharjah and Abu Dhabi, and as the league moves forward, the pitches will become more like the pitch at Chepauk especially during afternoon matches. Their spin line up is very good and will be able to dominate well. They also have the advantage of having different styles of spinners. The likes of Imran Tahir and Deepak Chahar are very good and the addition of Piyush Chawla adds a whole new dimension.
- The players from the Indian subcontinent and more extensively the Asian continent make the core of the team. They have a lot of foreign talent which helps build up the variation in the bowling and the the power hitters in the batting line up but they have a considerable amount of players from the continent who will be able to take great advantage and play the spin well. There is also an issue related to this which is explained further later in this blogpost itself. The likes of Murali Vijay and others provide a lot of action and can be of great importance to CSK.
WEAKNESSES
- Lack of pace bowling and that will actually affect them since they require a proper pace attack to play against some teams who have a well balanced team and to also take proper all round advantage of the Dubai pitch in the start of the tournament.
- The loss of Harbhajan Singh from the squad and the looming uncertainty over Suresh Raina’s role in the Dream11 IPL 2020. Harbhajan Singh was an exceptional bowler for them and he was extremely useful in the powerplay and his replacement James Pattison isn’t that great. Suresh Raina is someone who provided a lot of support to the middle order and kept good partnerships which help CSK get those important runs.
- The squad has a slight issue with the
OPPORTUNITIES
- Opportunities are mainly there advantage on almost half of the the other IPL teams, especially teams like MI and RR. CSK has a good spin attack and the batsmen will be able to tackle the bowling of the other times especially with the likes of Bravo, Watson and Dhoni and with a batting order which can be upto 70 percent of the playing XI. Hence, the opportunity for them will be their strengths which are some teams’ weaknesses.
- The young talent and the domestic Indian talent that SK bagged for IPL 2020 is somewhat promising and the like of KM Asif and all can be experimented with towards the middle of the tournament. They will also help provide substitutions and rst to the main playing XI. CSK have this option of resting their spinners as well for a bit for some matches during Dubai and explore the young talent.
- The day matches – Great conditions.
THREATS
- A threat as mentioned before is related the squad’s composition. There are slight problems with class players who can replace anyone in the batting order if the players have some medical issues. They do have people like Murali Vijay but a Covid substitution is for 2 weeks may require some consistent and inform players other than Murali Vijay as well.
- The first few matches are not exactly a threat but yes, on a little pace friendly pitch and night matches during the same time it will be interesting to see as to who capitalises but yes, threats are low.
THE CHENNAI SUPER KINGS 13
This is the Spielens – Prakhar Drolia ‘CHENNAI SUPER KINGS 13’ and Raina has been excluded due to the uncertainty of him being a part of the squad during the IPL.
Chennai Super Kings have a wholesome squad in many ways with a few flaws when it comes to pace bowlers but it was a very tough selection. A few of the players were confirmed and had to be there which included the captain M.S.Dhoni, who is basically the soul of the whole team and runs the team like a Thalaiva. It is very important for M.S. Dhoni to continue to be a part of team for its success.
Shane Watson, Deepak Chahar, Imran Tahir, Ravindra Jadeja and Dwayne Bravo also are the most important for the team as these 5, alongwith M.S.Dhoni are the core of team and with the loss of Suresh raina and Harbhajan Singh, they become even more important. They help provide the overall all round coverage that the team requires in all the matches. Ravindra Jadeja is very essential not only in one aspect but as a batsman, bowler as well as a fielder and keeping him in form and healthy and fit will be very important.
Murali Vijay lost out on the bubble as it seemed as if overseas players like Tom Curran fitted better into the team composition and fulfilled its requirements better, but considering the limit on the number of overseas players who can be a part of the Playing XI, Murali Vijay will find himself as a part of the Playing XI frequently.
Overall, keeping in mind that CSK have several matches in Dubai and have a great batting line up, bowling was factores into different styles and the number of bowlers was increased with keeping that field in priority. The final ‘THE CHENNAI SUPER KINGS 13’ is a mixture of some of the best players and as mentioned in the SWOT analysis, the other players have a high chance of being in the Playing XI and getting victories for their team.
|ALL THE BEST TO ALL THE TEAMS AND PLAYERS|
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