From the vantage point of a once hard core, and now somewhat
dispassionate fan, who is following the IPL after a couple of years, it has
been interesting to see the changes in the team. It has also been interesting
to notice a big change in the composition of the Super Kings line up that I
think will hurt them in the playoffs.
I have often believed that the strength of the batting or
bowling of an IPL team is accurately reflect more by its domestic components, rather
than its internationals. While a great recruit like a Malinga or a Warner is
definitely of great value, domestic strength over the years has emerged as the
key to consistency.
In the past, Chennai featured (and trusted) the likes of Murali
Vijay, S Badrinath, Parthiv Patel, Wridhhiman Saha, and even the likes of S
Aniruddha and S Vidyut. This year, however, there has been a complete reliance
on the foreign batsmen in McCullum, Dwayne Smith, Faf Du Plessis, the all-rounder
in Dwayne Bravo, and now Mike Hussey. This has been further hastened by Raina
and Dhoni not being at their best. This goes against general selection policy
over the years, where every CSK side would have one international strike
bowler, be it Bollinger, Hilfenhaus, Chris Morris, or in the alternative be
stacked with all-rounders like Morkel, Kemp, Kulasekara, Perera, etc. This
change has been a symptom of the unusual lack of strength in CSK’s batting
reserves that will hamper them in the playoffs while McCullum is away on
national duty. Outside of Raina, Dhoni and to a certain extent, Jadeja and
Negi, CSK’s domestic batting group comprises only of Mithun Manhas and Baba
Aparajith.
Interestingly, not only does this lack of domestic batting
hamper their batting, but it has tied the hands of CSK in terms of bowling
selection, where emphasis has been on domestic bowlers. Ashish Nehra and Dwayne
Bravo have solved that problem to an extent by having a throwback year, but
Ishwar Pandey has been inconsistent at best and Mohit Sharma has been downright
poor. The biggest loss for CSK has been the player they have been unable to put
on the field, and that is Kyle Abbott. Abbott was arguably the best or 2nd
best seamer for South Africa in the World Cup and outperforming Dale Steyn is
no mean feat. A bowling attack featuring him, Nehra, Bravo, Ashwin and Jadeja,
with Negi as back up would automatically be one of the best in the IPL, but CSK
cannot afford to do that, since their batting would be weakened immensely.
The reason I have spent so much time highlighting this
glaring issue, is that this is opposite to what the Super Kings have been over
the years. CSK would always be among the best, if not the best batting line ups
in the league, while their bowling would be just average, with one or two key
components. This year however, [and maybe the year before?], the identity has
changed, where the batting needs to be propped up with international talent. To
me that has been the biggest change for the team in yellow. It is also evident
from the pitches at the MA Chidambaram stadium this year that Chennai are aware
of this as well. For the Ranji trophy this season, a series of dry, beaten
downtracks were laid out to aid the TN spinners. Usually, for the IPL, 140-150
wickets are the norm as CSK would really on their slow bowlers and big hitters.
However, this year there have been only 2 scores below 150, and the average
first innings total has been 164 [all CSK]. This tells me that pitches have
been laid out to favor the batting and rely on bowlers bowling consistent lines
and lengths to win games.
With McCullum gone, I expect the Super Kings to struggle
going into the playoffs. While Hussey has been a fantastic player over his
career and also for the Super Kings, and opening combination of him and Dwayne
Smith does not scream IPL champions the way Gayle-Kohli, Watson-Rahane do.
Heck, on current form, even Simmons-Parthiv sounds a better combination. The
problem for Chennai is that their domestic batting strength doesn’t allow for
the selection of Abbott, and hence, they are stuck.
It will be interesting to see if CSK shuffle up their
batting order, promoting Faf Du Plessis, and what tactics they use with Raina having
his worst IPL season. Given their imbalance, I would suggest that RCB, or maybe
even RR are favorites from this point on.
