Chennai want to be Manchester United of IPL
Dubai: When Chennai Super Kings spinner Ravichandran Ashwin said: "We can be the Manchester United of the Indian Premier League (IPL)," his words aptly summed up the intentions of the team and their domination in the four editions of the Twenty20 event so far.
The Super Kings, two-time IPL champions and holders of the Twenty20 Champions League title, have been the side to beat every year after making the final of the first edition, the semi-finals of the second and winning the last two.
Needless to say, ‘Captain Cool’ Mahendra Singh Dhoni has been a huge influence on the success of the team, but he is well assisted by a strong squad of handpicked stars. Even more impressive was that the core members were retained when the new auction took place at the end of the third edition, giving them the advantage of continuing to play as a cohesive unit.
‘Very confident’
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"We are the champions of the IPL and the Champions League, so we are very confident," said Kasi Viswanathan, secretary of the Tamil Nadu Cricket Association and an influential member of the Super Kings hierarchy on the eve of this year’s Champions League T20. "So far all the players are fit and we have not lost anyone to another team."
The team’s batting revolves around the ‘Mr Consistent’ Michael Hussey and Suresh Raina, who has been a prolific scorer. With batsmen like Murali Vijay and Subramaniam Badrinath maturing over the years and Dhoni in good form in the one-day series against England, that department certainly looks solid.
Big-hitting all-rounders Albie Morkel and Dwayne Bravo have the ability to wade into rival attacks and significantly swell totals. The Super Kings backroom staff and coach Stephen Fleming have to be credited for developing players like Vijay, Ashwin and Shadab Jakati into top performers.
The Super Kings’ strength has been in their ability to score in excess of 60 runs in the last five overs while their weakness lies in an inability to contain the opposition in the first six powerplay overs in the field. The bowling attack lacks depth, especially after the exit of legendary off-spinner Muttiah Muralitharan and fast bowler Lakshmipathy Balaji. Murali’s replacement, fellow Sri Lankan off-spinner Suraj Randiv, has not lived up to expectations so far.
The likes of Doug Bollinger, Morkel, Ashwin and Jakati have shouldered the responsibility, with Raina chipping in with useful spells. Hussey’s success with the ball in Australia’s Tests against Sri Lanka will give Dhoni another option should the going get tough. The reserve bench is also strong with the likes of Wriddhiman Saha, Tim Southee and Nuwan Kulasekara.
In the fourth edition of the IPL, the wickets were a lot drier as the tournament was played in the middle of the summer.
It could be a different story in the Champions League T20 with the Chepauk wicket playing true, offering pace and bounce and the ball coming onto the bat nicely.