IPL 2018 | Talking Points: Chennai’s emotional return and Andre Russell’s calypso power
BCCI
Chennai’s return has been one of the exciting headlines over last few days and the fans saw their team squeak home in the penultimate ball, which made the occasion all the more emotional. Andre Russell, however, ended the day as the star for the visitors, who kept on cursing their fortunes.
Chennai returns, FINALLY
How could you explain the emotion that would be overflowing in the team’s die-hard fanbase as their very own CSK finally returned to their city after a gap of two years? Or how could you tell someone in Chennai the pain of waiting for two years to shout the name of "Thala" at the top of their lungs which would make the Chepauk arena reverberate to its very
Any franchise sport, or their teams for that matter, survive on individual tales of brilliance or a team show of grit and class. It is very difficult for any team to sustain long without catching the imagination of fans irrespective of all the gloss and glamour that surrounds it. And Chennai Super Kings, unlike some of their counterparts in the Indian Premier League, understood this concept right from the get-go and, over the first eight seasons of the IPL, the franchise built itself into an institution thanks to their larger foresight and strategy of investing faith in their core team. So today, when the team returned to the venue after a gap of two years, one would have expected them to crank up the volume and scream in relentless excitement and boy did the fans live up to the expectations!
Russell blitz silence CSK’s whistle, at least for the first innings
When Kolkata decided not to announce a replacement for Andre Russell ahead of the IPL 2017 - when he was banned from the game for a year for his failure to attend the dope test - it was expected that the team would anyway retain him in 2018 and they did. However, what was under severe doubt was that whether Russell would be able to retain his batting prowess after a one-year ban from the game. Today, Russell ensured that no one would doubt the logic behind his team’s gutsy faith in him.Â
It says something about the impact that players like Russell bring to the team and it also says much more about the T20 format. With six to seven batsmen available over 20 overs, and a player like Sunil Narine batting at the top-order without any inhibitions, the team can simply afford a “not-always-reliable” Russell in the batting order, given the impact he has when he comes off.
Most importantly, when Russell decided to go after the bowlers, Kolkata had lost five wickets and they desperately needed either of Russell or Karthik to give them some impetus in the innings and guide them to a total that they could be considered safe. And the way the Caribbean accelerated the innings was a treat to watch, especially if you are not a CSK fan. It would have been especially pleasing for the KKR management as their punt bailed them out of the woods, at least for the first innings.Â
Billings becomes the unlikely hero in the whistle podu den
When CSK bid for veteran players on the first day of the auction, their strategy was heavily criticised and their fans on Twitter were expecting them to buy fresh faces on the second and final day of the auction. It was only in the last session of the second auction day that CSK got themselves into the groove and stacked their team with young players, and still at the end of the auction process, everyone had one thing to say, “CSK DON’T HOLD A CHANCE”. It was a recurring theme that has been on show for the last two months, but all of the critics, including me, those who have slammed CSK for their auction strategy, will have to face Stephen Fleming and chances are that the legendary Kiwi skipper will just give a sarcastic smile and go back to the hotel room for relaxation.
After Bravo led an improbable run-chase in the match against Mumbai Indians, Sam Billings and Shane Watson rose to the occasion to showcase the strength of their team. The team needed 102 runs when the English opener arrived at the crease and, in a flash, he changed the game on KKR’s head with clean sixes to the gallery. Despite losing MS Dhoni in the process, he knew that he had to stay in the middle to give a sweet end to his effort. And the Kent player had a certain Ravindra Jadeja and Dwayne Bravo to thank for smashing Vinay Kumar for 19 to take the team home on the penultimate ball of the over.
However, more than the flashiness, most of
