IPL 2020: Team Preview – Chennai Super Kings

No other IPL team has seen taller highs and deeper lows than Chennai Super Kings. This franchise, one of the most popular teams in the competition, ensures great drama in every IPL edition. While the Yellow Army is the most successful team in the tournament history on the basis of their win percentage across so many years, the side was also suspended for two years with the team owner being involved in a controversy.

Even this season, the Chennai camp has been marred by controversies. Many members of their camp were tested positive for coronavirus. Two of their most experienced players, Suresh Raina and Harbhajan Singh, pulled out their names from the season because of personal reasons. Despite such negativity around the campaign, the MS Dhoni factor is likely to keep Chennai Super kings focussed at the job. For an ageing side, this will be one of the most testing seasons.

Squad:

Strengths:

Chennai Super Kings is another such franchise which believes in retaining their core together. The likes of MS Dhoni, Suresh Raina, Ravindra Jadeja, Dwayne Bravo, Shane Watson have together built a successful side and their association with this team is deeply rooted. Although Raina will not be featuring in this season, the rest of the crew knows its role. Chennai will hope to go one step better after their heartbreaking last-ball loss against Mumbai Indians in 2019 IPL final.

The winning strategy for CSK over the years has evolved around their spin bowlers. The strategy will hold strong even on the UAE tracks this year. They have Imran Tahir, Piyush Chawla, Ravindra Jadeja, Mitchell Santner, Karn Sharma and Ravi Sai Kishore in their armoury to bamboozle the batsmen with. Harbhajan Singh’s name in this list would have been a wonderful variation as now CSK do not have a spinner who can turn the ball away from a left-hand batsman. Yet, this will be a fantastic spin unit to watch out for.

Weaknesses

Chennai Super Kings won the IPL in 2018, they almost won it in 2019. However, time rolls on. Many of the CSK superstars are retired international cricketers, including their captain MS Dhoni. This means match practice and fitness will be a more serious issue in this season than the previous ones. The likes of Shane Watson, Ambati Rayudu, MS Dhoni, Piyush Chawla have not played competitive cricket for a long duration. CSK are the oldest side in this competition and they’ll have to ensure that they can keep their energies up until the finish.

Strongest Playing XI

Faf du Plessis*, Shane Watson*, Ambati Rayudu, MS Dhoni (C), Kedar Jadhav, Dwayne Bravo*, Ravindra Jadeja, Piyush Chawla, Deepak Chahar, Imran Tahir*, Shardul Thakur.

CSK do have Murali Vijay and Ruturaj Gaikwad waiting in the wings in case they are needed to open the innings. Mitchell Santner can pair up Jadeja if needed. They also boast two very good overseas pace bowlers in Lungi Ngidi and Josh Hazlewood.

Team Fixtures