CHENNAI: There was a point in time in the 2010 edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) when Chennai Super Kings had seemingly thrown in the towel. Having lost four in as many games and five of the first seven matches, the franchise were set for an early bath. Then, it all clicked.
Though all players worked towards a common goal, the good work started at the top as the likes of Murali Vijay, Matt Hayden and Suresh Raina, their 1, 2 and 3, set the agenda.
It will be a good starting point for the Class of 2025 to try and emulate. Because Chennai's top-order is yet to get going in this year's edition. Worryingly, the franchise may not yet know the identity of their top three with more than a fourth of their league season already done.
11, 8, 0 and 14.
Those are the first-wicket partnerships put up by the franchise in the four games thus far. Shane Watson, the cricketer-turned-pundit and an expert for JioStar, touched upon the top-order malaise of the franchise during an interaction with media on Monday. During the interaction, he said his preference would have been for Ruturaj Gaikwad to open like he had done so successfully in the past. But he did mention that he was a fan of the franchise recalling Devon Conway in place of an Indian batter.
It's all been musical chairs for them at the top as Rahul Tripathi has been tried. Deepak Hooda has come and gone. Conway for Tripathi has meant they cannot field an overseas all-rounder as Matheesha Pathirana, Noor Ahmad and Rachin Ravindra are locks.
Save for the opening game win over Mumbai, the top-order has been non-existent. In the next three games, they had reached 26 (4.4 overs), 72 (9.3) and 41 (5.3) by the time they had lost the third wicket. It meant the franchise has not only had to play catch up but they haven't been able to introduce the power-hitters in the correct entry point, a point coach Stephen Fleming had alluded to after the loss against Delhi Capitals.
The cascading effect has led to issues whenever they have batted. For starters, they are the worst performing team when it comes to hitting boundaries. You cannot hope to win games in this format with below-par boundary output percentage. This lack of intent with the bat is because of an undercooked batting line-up, spinners allowed to dominate them through the middle and a lack of true power-hitting at the end.
"Yeah, that (finding the balance) is the conundrum at the moment," Fleming said at the press conference after CSK's loss to Delhi on Saturday. "To get more solidity at the top we have to remove obviously an overseas player, so we're grappling just with the combination that we need. When it doesn't go right, you pore over it and analyse that and see if it was the right call.
"We felt that our batting in the powerplays has been below par and going too hard was probably not the way, particularly on our wicket, which is a little bit tricky," Fleming said. "So we're looking just to settle that with guys that have been in good form and have done it before, so that's the theory behind that and that's what we'll possibly continue with."
If they fail to address this issue, there is a danger of them being on an island all by themselves as an also-ran.
It's why their encounter against Punjab Kings at Mullanpur on Tuesday becomes more important because it pits the team with the best scoring rate against the team with the worst scoring rate. Every six balls they faced, Shreyas Iyer & Co have scored at 10.2. Chennai? 8.05.
