Back to the drawing board for Chennai Super Kings

Dhoni once again held himself back and came in at No 6, but against a rampaging Kagiso Rabada and Anrich Nortje, he hardly got moving.
Chennai Super Kings skipper MS Dhoni gestures during IPL match against Delhi Capitals at Dubai International Cricket Stadium. (Photo | PTI)
Chennai Super Kings skipper MS Dhoni gestures during IPL match against Delhi Capitals at Dubai International Cricket Stadium. (Photo | PTI)

CHENNAI: Chennai Super Kings have an ageing squad, with many on the wrong side of 30. Even then, many expect them to advance to the playoffs because of their spinners. On home conditions in Chennai, it is the tweakers that MS Dhoni looks to in the powerplays.

Need a wicket, turn to spinners. Need to control the run flow, go to a spinner. And in the UAE, where conditions are suited for spinners, Chennai, with plenty of depth in spin department, were supposed to continue the trend.

But that hasn't been the story so far. With Piyush Chawla in the mix now, Chennai took the bold call of leaving Imran Tahir in the bench. With Sam Curran's all-round abilities needed to lend balance and a pacer — Lungi Ngidi/Josh Hazlewood — taking the other slot, they believed fielding Indian spinners would allow them to paper over cracks. However, it has only made their campaign tougher.

Sample these numbers in the three matches against Mumbai Indians, Rajasthan Royals and Delhi Capitals. Ravindra Jadeja: 4-0-42-2, 4-0-40-0, 4-0-44-0; Chawla: 4-0-21-1, 4-0-55-1, 4-0-33-2. The duo have accounted for only five wickets in three matches, meaning Chennai have not been able to make inroads in the middle and have left the job to their seamers, who can be taken for runs at the death.

Against Mumbai, Ngidi and Curran ensured their batsmen didn't have to chase a lot. But against Rajasthan, they leaked more than 200 and on Friday against Delhi, they managed to limit the damages. From 88/0 in 10 overs, DC could only add 87 in the next 10 for the loss of three wickets as Chennai didn't concede a single six.

Delhi had only themselves to blame. Prithvi Shaw (64) and Shikhar Dhawan (35), who put on 94 for the first wicket in 10.4 overs, departed in succession leaving Rishabh Pant and Shreyas Iyer to be cautious at the start. This allowed Chennai to restrict them a bit. The duo tried to break the shackles, but the one big over they were looking for, never came.

However, 175 proved good enough for Delhi as Chennai's top-order failed once again. The middle-order put in a semblance of fight, but mostly they were going nowhere as the asking-rate kept mounting. That Chennai needed to score at four runs a ball with 16 balls to go told its own story. They finally lost by 44 runs.

Dhoni once again held himself back and came in at No 6, but against a rampaging Kagiso Rabada and Anrich Nortje, he hardly got moving.

Back to the spinners. Chennai have a week's break before they face Sunrisers Hyderabad, which gives them some time to redraw their strategy.

They might be short on options in the batting front, but not in bowling department. They can bench both Ngidi and Hazlewood and opt to go for an additional spinner in the form of Tahir or Mitchell Santner as they will get enough bite on these surfaces. With Murali Vijay and Ruturaj Gaikwad not contributing to the cause, they have the option of further strengthening the bowling in the form of Shardul Thakur.

They have lost two out of three. Though there is a long way to go, if they don't change the script in the coming matches, it could get to a point where there is no way back for Chennai. And it could be the beginning of the end.

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