IPL Preview | Top to bottom 22-yard analysis of Chennai Super Kings
Riding high on the back of a record-equalling fifth IPL title, Chennai Super Kings would be more than optimistic to retain their perpetual contenders tag in 2024. However, with a series of injuries plaguing them of late, can ‘Thala’ MS Dhoni deliver the Yellove a potential fairytale swansong?
It’s that time of the year again, when a certain former Indian skipper emerges from his private recluse to trigger a flood of yellow across a country of one and a half billion people. Yet, fanfare and lore can only take the team so far, and success ultimately comes down to what the players manage to achieve within those sacred 22 yards of dust and clay.
Short length – The factors that could bump out the franchise
Lack of bowling options at the death
To add to the slinga’s misery, he is expected to miss the first two games of the season with a hamstring injury, both of which are slated to take place at Chepauk whose slow decks favour the bowler’s deceptive style the most. CSK did rope in Mustafizur Rahman as a backup to the 21-year-old but the Bangladesh quick is far from his peak and does not possess the same striking capabilities as his Sri Lankan counterpart.
The only other bowler to bowl more than 10 overs at the death for the franchise was Tushar Deshpande, who leaked runs at 12.88 an over at an average of 26.73. A potential solution for CSK could be to back Mitchell Santner given his exemplary career T20I economy of 6.98 and strike rate of 9.60 across the last four overs, but it may have to come at the cost of middle-order batting depth.
Good length – The well of assets that the team can bank on
Options, Options, Options
If there is anything CSK can confidently cite as the primary reason behind the five IPL trophies, it is an outrageous and meticulous auction strategy. The franchise is choc-a-bloc with handy part-timers and proper all-rounders both Indian and foreign, having added Rachin Ravindra, Daryl Mitchell, Shardul Thakur, and Sameer Rizvi to their reserves from last year. Depending on the desired balance of the team, CSK could field a lineup that can bat till nine while still possessing eight genuine bowling options.
The next section of Make-Your-Own-Dream-Team features the varied powerplay bowling contingent. Chennai’s bowling strike rate of 21.33 in the powerplay in IPL 2023 was only second best to Royal Challengers Bangalore, while their economy was also amongst the top half of the table. Deepak Chahar and Tushar Deshpande formed a lethal duo up top and combined for 17 wickets within the first six overs, the latter’s economy an exemplary 7.88 during the phase. Deshpande thereafter went on to enjoy a brilliant Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy campaign with Mumbai where he scalped 16 wickets at 12.81 apiece while conceding runs at less than seven an over, and the duo would be yearning to repeat their success in 2024. Add to that the efficiency offered by Maheesh Theekshana with the new ball on Chennai’s slow decks, and the possibility of calling upon Mitchell Santner’s services given his powerplay economy of 6.50 in T20Is since the beginning of 2021, all the best to IPL openers for surviving that perfect storm.
Speaking of which, few franchises have mastered the Dark Arts of Spin like the Dhoni-led outfit. Ravindra Jadeja spearheads the team’s tweakers alongside Theekshana while Moeen Ali served as the preferred third spinner in 2023. CSK boasted the second-best dots-to-balls ratio for spinners last season, while also having the third-best average with 25.99 – an unparalleled lethal combination. A possibly improved squad role for Santner along with the additions of part-timers Ravindra and Rizvi has only made the team’s spin reserves stronger. If the bowlers can spin webs, their batters can smash through them with aplomb. Last season, Shivam Dube’s tally of 22 sixes against spin saw him top the charts while a strike rate of 176.47 was only behind Heinrich Klassen (minimum 100 balls faced), with Ruturaj Gaikwad (162.25) featuring at number five and Devon Conway at 15th (136.79).
Full length – Hit or Miss aspects of the team
Unproven IPL batting core
CSK not only bossed the powerplay with the bat in 2023 with a surreal average of 89 and a strike rate of 148.33 (only behind RCB’s 150.40) but also had the second-best strike rate through the all-important middle overs of 143.50. However, the absence of Devon Conway for a major part of the season, Shivam Dube’s unavailability for the first couple of games, and Ambati Rayudu’s retirement mean the team would need to field a renewed batting core, at least for the first few games.
Rachin Ravindra is likely to slot in up-top alongside Ruturaj Gaikwad and despite a breakthrough World Cup, his career T20 average of 16.41 at a strike rate of under 130 leaves a lot to be desired. Similarly, Daryl Mitchell has yet to showcase his potential in the IPL and has a poor T20I record in the subcontinent.
Perhaps the most burning question is whether Ajinkya Rahane can sustain the stratospheric levels from last season. The veteran struck at a mind-boggling 172.49, while his average of 82.50 and strike rate of 232.39 against pacers was second to none. However, in the three seasons prior, Rahane had averaged a miserly 14.11 in the IPL while striking at a little over run-a-ball, and his strike rate for Mumbai in the latest SMAT read an underwhelming 123.23 – a sign of things to come?
Yorker– The lethal X-factors
‘Rocket Raja’ Gaikwad
It takes a special talent to be the franchise X-factor over a spinner boasting a career economy of 6.66 in T20s and an average of 23.9 at the raw age of 23 (read: Maheesh Theekshana), but that is just what Ruturaj Gaikwad is. He may not have overhauled his 2021 tally of 635 runs last season but was undoubtedly at his scintillating best. The 590 runs came at a career-high strike rate of 147.50, and the opener has finally managed to break through internationally as well after being stuck on the fringes for a long time. The Mahrashtrian has averaged 60.83 in T20Is since IPL 2023 and struck an unbeaten century against Australia. He is the joint pre-tournament favourite for the Orange Cap as per the bookies and with the Yellove touting him as the successor to MS Dhoni, the young superstar’s stock in world cricket continues to rise.
Beamer – Where the team could completely lose the plot
The Last Dance for the Fleming-Dhoni duo
Perhaps the best-run cricketing project in the IPL, the credit for Chennai Super King’s sustained success wherein they have only missed out on the playoffs twice belongs in large measure to the white ball geniuses that are MS Dhoni and Stephen Fleming. Leading the charge since 2008, the duo has operated with incredible foresightedness to ensure no year goes by where they lack the resources to challenge for the title. 2024 would be different given Ruturaj Gaikwad would be at the helm, and we all know how it played out when Ravindra Jadeja took over the reins in 2022. However, Dhoni’s imprint is expected to remain all the same on the team’s functioning through the season. With the season likely to be the curtains call for him and potentially even Fleming, only time will tell whether they can navigate the injury troubles to defend the title or endure a tragic end to IPL’s greatest love story.