CHENNAI: In the fast-paced world of T20 cricket, it's difficult to find space for something called a long reign. Things change quickly, leaving little or no room for one to occupy a place of prominence for a considerable period of time. Ideas, techniques and innovations keep evolving, to make this format of cricket a breeding ground of the 'new'.
Chennai Super Kings is an exception in this ecosystem. In a competition like IPL where almost all teams are evenly matched, their consistency defies notions. Mumbai Indians have won the title on more occasions, but making it to the last four all 10 times they have been part of the IPL is unparalleled. Even if records are meant to be broken, matching this seems more improbable than 300 in 20 overs in the near future.
Like all good things coming to an end, Chennai Super Kings' separation from the IPL play-offs is more than a possibility in the UAE. Winning four remaining matches will take them to 14 points. In the past teams have qualified with even 12. But there is something in their display suggesting that the incredible run is about to snap. If that happens, it will be the end of an era in the brief history of T20 cricket.
"It's pretty down, which is fair enough," said coach Stephen Fleming of the team's morale after Monday's defeat against Rajasthan Royals. "We came close in a couple of games (in the past), but today we were thoroughly outplayed. Usually, you get a bit of hope and momentum when you get positives. It's hard to be upbeat (under the circumstances). But we have to hang in. We have to rely on other results and hope for changes in the form of our own team."
Foremost among the reasons would be the waning powers of their talisman. Captain cool and keeper reliable with the ability to pull off smart catches and stumpings even at 39, at the end of the day, MS Dhoni is MS Dhoni because of the impact his bat made. The restrained destruction he caused as a batsman helped him tower above competition and put him on a pedestal reserved for the select few. The IPL has seen him do this numerous times.
Dhoni the batsman we see now is not the same force. Epitome of confidence at his peak, he appears a bit unsure at the crease. His area of the pitch, from where the ball would disappear if he so wished, has become smaller. Given his knowledge and experience of clearing the fence, he will still do it at times, but whether that will be enough for the team is a question. Running between wickets, his biggest strength, also seems to be deserting him. When the team's most influential figure ceases to be himself, the team doesn't remain the same.
One can say Chennai do remain the same! As in, they don't usually change personnel, which makes them the team with the highest retention percentage over the years. That sell-by date is also nearing the end. While other teams benefited from the inclusion of young blood, the team in yellow stuck to tested ones, which paid dividends until last year. But in 2020, suddenly you see there is no Shreyas Iyer or Shubman Gill or Devdutt Padikkal in Chennai.
Barring Deepak Chahar to an extent, the team owners did not invest in youth. For a successful franchise, not building for the future is a shortcoming and it is showing this year.
It is unfair to overlook the absence of Suresh Raina and Harbhajan Singh. Missing the team's most consistent batsman, who is good at playing on pitches that become slow with time, was a big blow. Harbhajan is another who could have made his experience count. But then, looking at these two as could-have-been saviours is looking back rather than at the future.
Asked if they would look at changing the combination, Fleming answered in the affirmative. "We will be turning that over. We have been consistent over the years with our selections. Fair to say looking at the table that this team out of a little bit of juice at the moment. A third year with an ageing group was going to be difficult. Dubai has challenged us with a whole new set of requirements. We got players we are going to look at. We need to make sure we find out some good answers with some of the players we have moving forward."
If bringing in new players is going to be the last throw of the dice, it will be a great break for the likes of Ruturaj Gaekwad, KM Asif, N Jagadeesan, R Sai Kishore and Monu Kumar. But given that these players have a collective IPL experience of three matches, expecting them to turn the fortunes of the team might be asking for too much.
CSK's IPL record
2008 Runners-up
2009 Semifinals
2010 Champions
2011 Champions
2012 Runners-up
2013 Runners-up
2014 Play-offs
2015 Runners-up
2016 Did not play
2017 Did not play
2018 Champions
2019 Runners-up