Chennai Super Kings and a play-off spot, a never-ending love history. Oh wait. Yes, you heard it right. For the first time since IPL was a thing; since Android transformed from a tiny baby into a monster, CSK failed to qualify for the knockout stage. They were without their Chinna Thala, Suresh Raina, and ace off-spinner, Harbhajan Singh, but as shrewd as they are in the IPL auctions table generally, they were not right last time around. 

The story was rather a terrible one. After winning the first game against bitter-rivals Mumbai Indians, Chennai endured their worst run in the IPL, finishing second to bottom. Even though they won their last three games convincingly, against RCB, KKR and KXIP,  they could only end with 12 points, finishing above only Rajasthan Royals in the points table. 

Batting

The Powerplay | 2020 - end of an era; 2021 - start of a new one?

In the 14 games last season, CSK only managed to score 561 runs off 504 deliveries that they faced in the powerplay, which, as expected, was the worst tally amongst all sides. Barring the one game against KXIP, the openers - Shane Watson and Faf du Plessis - endured a tough form together at the top of the order. In the first six overs, CSK on average, only scored 40 runs, hitting just 6.14 boundaries per game despite all but 2 fielders being inside the ring.

Can they fix this terrible stat?

Now the strike rate doesn’t read too good, which exactly was one of their problems last season. On the other hand, there was Faf du Plessis, who scored 170 runs in the first six, at a strike-rate of 138.2 while averaging 28.3. Together the duo opened in just four games, a small sample space to make a judgement on. But do they have options?

C Hari Nishaanth or Narayan Jagadeesan won’t solve the problem, with their strike-rate on par with the current openers, which is why they would have to look at either Robin Uthappa or Moeen Ali at the top of the order. While Uthappa has rarely opened in the last two years, the turn of events at Kerala suggests that he would be a prime contender for the slot;  since the start of 2020, he’s scored 177 runs in the powerplay at an average of 29.5 and a SR of 135.1. 

Middle overs | An ageing Suresh Raina and a problem of plenty

Another phase that the Super Kings have struggled with is in the middle-overs, where often they have had the resources but have been unable to turn that into a bright result. In the middle-overs phase, CSK have struggled with proactiveness - striking just 5.6 boundaries during the phase while scoring 56.4 runs on average. This is where it gets tricky, CSK have lost the least amount of wickets during that time, 18, which suggests that it has never been the problem of too many wickets at the top but an issue of approach. 

CSK’s strike rate of 117 was the third-worst last season, which indicates where the problem lied, in the absence of their star player, Suresh Raina. However, even his return would not do the franchise a lot of good, with the left-hander having struggled during that phase, of late, to increase the tempo. In the past two years, Raina has scored just 234 runs during the middle period, at an average of 29.2 and SR of 122.5. Around him, however, there is a serious workaround that could save Chennai from blushes, unlike last season. 

Last season, they played around with their middle-order before eventually sticking with Ambati Rayudu at No.3. While Rayudu came up with the runs, his intent certainly cost the franchise some handy runs. However, Raina’s return would ultimately push the right-hander back to No.4, which means CSK could try playing one of Faf du Plessis or Moeen Ali at No.5, ahead of Dhoni and Jadeja. 

Batting at the death | Jadeja-Dhoni hold fort or CSK crash out

Despite having two of India’s great power hitters in Dhoni and Jadeja, CSK have struggled to close out games and set good targets in the past season. Now there is a workaround for that but a workaround that still involves Dhoni and Jadeja in the scheme of things. With the purchase of Krishnappa Gowtham, CSK have a great batting option at the death. 

That’s where it should boil down to - using their resources very well, especially Faf du Plessis, Sam Curran, Dhoni, Jadeja and Gowtham. Since 2019, batting at the death, du Plessis has scored 183 runs off 86 deliveries, averaging 45.8 while striking it at 212.8 with a dot ball percentage of 15.1, albeit the runs coming when he was set. Let’s extend that to Sam Curran -  the left-hander, during the same timeline, has scored 156 runs off the same number of deliveries, at a strike-rate of 181.4, and has shown his ability to take the game deep in the past.

Last season, Dhoni would only score 128 runs during the death, at a strike-rate of 142, but if 2019 is considered, Dhoni’s strike rate takes a leap to 160 batting in the end, which is where he could find himself this year, with Raina’s return. Now the final piece of the puzzle, ‘KG’ Gowtham, who can really pack a death-ly punch, has scored 128 runs in 67 balls in the final phase of the innings, at a strike-rate of 191. When you combine that with Shardul Thakur, CSK have enough batting depth to cause teams a whole lot of problems. 

Verdict 

Bowling

Certainly, last year, CSK’s bowling unit endured a nightmare of a season. All they could do was think about their better nights from the previous two editions and try not to cry. 

Powerplay | Form is temporary; class is........? We'll find out

With just 15 wickets in the powerplay last season, CSK were the second-worst team in the league after the first six overs. Deepak Chahar was back but his form didn’t aid him or his side. CSK were lost for a plan in the powerplay phase, sometimes even making people wonder if they’d throw the ball to Shane Watson to provide spark. Eventually they conceded 44.8 runs in the first six on an average while just picking 1.07 wickets per game, which isn’t just bad but terrible, particularly for a team that takes pride in its powerplay bowling. 

Can Deepak Chahar get back to form?

However, around Ngidi and Curran, CSK can do something really fancy, chance their arms and bring in either Mitchell Santner or Sai Kishore into the setup. Since 2019, Santner, bowling in the powerplay, has picked up 6 wickets at an economy rate of 6.84. While he isn’t a natural wicket-taker, restricting the boundary balls could lead to wickets elsewhere, as New Zealand have witnessed in the recent past. 

There is a workaround here, if CSK doesn’t want to seal down that fourth foreign slot - bring in Sai Kishore. While he would be bowling at the Wankhede, where bounce would be on offer, it would be crucial to get the left-arm spinner bowling early, where he has picked most of his 33 T20 wickets, while only conceding 5.28 runs per over - extremely crucial in T20s. 

Middle-overs | Spin: The double-edged sword

With the bat or the ball, the struggle begins for CSK in the middle-overs, where they really aren’t quite up to the league standards. Last year, across games,  CSK conceded 861 runs in 662 deliveries while picking up just 24 wickets, with their spinners really struggling for control. Despite the big bucks, Piyush Chawla’s one season was enough to send him back to the auction table, so where do CSK go from here?

Can Ravindra Jadeja still hold the fort with the ball after the failure last season?

Across 10 games last season, Jadeja picked up just four wickets in the middle-overs, which led to a mini-crisis in the Chennai camp, so much so CSK only picked up 24 wickets in the middle-overs phase. And the mantra behind their domination was spin, which unfortunately wouldn’t be their go-to-thing this year, especially considering they are playing in Mumbai. 

Shardul Thakur and Imran Tahir can really stand tall when it comes to bowling in the middle-overs phase, with both of them having the knack of picking up wickets. After the powerplay and before the death overs, Thakur has picked up six wickets last season for CSK while Tahir has picked up seven wickets since 2020 around the world. 

While not just that, Tahir’s book of variations, with both pace and lines would help in Dhoni attacking the opposition more aggressively, something they missed last season. Or given that CSK doesn’t have an out and out pacer, they could also try out bowling KM Asif in the middle-overs, where he has succeeded for Kerala in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, picking up six wickets. 

Overall, last season was a mighty troubled one for the Men in Yellow and death overs was no different, with them conceding 786 runs in 14 games, at an average of 56.14 at an economy rate of 10.43. So what can CSK do to better this tally?

CSK’s perennial enemy should turn into their foe

Now having Lungi Ngidi solves multiple problems for the franchise - he can bowl in the early part of the innings, get his pace up to the 140s mark, and also throw down overs at the death, where he has had the best of his time in Chennai colours. Last year, despite only bowling seven overs at the death, the Saffer picked up six wickets, striking every seventh delivery. While Thakur just picked up three wickets at the death last season, he has picked up 14 wickets in the death for India since last year, with an impressive economy rate of 9.07.

Why Deepak Chahar? In the past, Chahar hasn’t been considered as a death-over bowler or even experimented a lot in the death, but given that he has picked up 4 wickets since 2020, bowling just the nine overs, he can bring in a lot of variations in the end, especially with his slower yorkers.

Unfortunately, for CSK, a lot isn’t going to change even if it means playing in India, especially on tracks where only 20.73% of the wickets have been taken by spinners. However, the Men in Yellow have the seam-bowlers and pace bowlers in the arsenal who could provide them with the breakthroughs in Mumbai. Of course, when they head to Delhi, the spinners would be back in prime-time action.