Over the last two games we witnessed a rather sluggish CSK grappling with both batting and bowling. The failure in chasing down a target of 176 runs against the Delhi Capitals, has left many fans and cricket enthusiasts questioning the efficacy of Dhoni’s strategy in this year’s playoffs. While one can but place faith in his leadership, the consequences of Bhajji and Raina’s absence are apparent now more than ever. The team put up a lacklustre performance in both innings, enough to warrant a fair amount of concern. It is indeed unnerving that CSK hasn’t been accomplishing what it did so effortlessly in the past.
It might have appeared that the men in yellow had the upper hand, being well equipped with experienced spinners, favored by UAE’s slow pitches. What ought to have been their strength has now transformed into a major drawback. In the middle overs where they typically managed to impede their opponents, Jadeja and Chawla let the game drift away. Conceding runs at a costly rate of 9.79 runs per over, the two spinners have picked a wicket once every 24 balls. Jadeja’s performance has been particularly bad in comparison to other spinners. A much counted on bowler squandering above 40 runs in consecutive matches isn’t the brightest prospect for a team.
The Delhi Capitals were at 36 runs for no loss at the end of 6 overs, which isn’t a whooping start. However, the damage was inflicted as they accelerated to 88/0 by the 10th over. Although the surface slowed down and Delhi’s batsmen struggled to tackle cutters in the second half of the innings, it was at the expense of being dominated in crucial overs. The need to bring in an experienced Tahir keeps increasing every game, compelling them to replace an overseas pacer with an extra spinner. Here is a glimpse of the South African leg spinner’s statistics:
Tahir in Middle Overs since 2018 (7–16): -
Wickets — 30
Eco — 7.15
Avg — 17.13
Astoundingly enough, CSK’s pacers have been more of an asset than their spin unit. Barring Ngidi, Curran and Hazlewood’s incredible performance in the powerplay and death overs deserves a mention. Since death bowling isn’t really Hazlewood’s forte, the team needs more time to assess his impact and strategically use him in the initial overs if required. Perhaps, the team can seek refuge at their pacers, but it is unclear if this strategy will fare well for them given the outcomes of the previous matches.
On the other hand, the batting order needs some serious sorting. Despite being accomplished openers, Watson and Vijay looked rather rusty. Both took off slow and got dismissed early on. The combined strike rate of the two is at 100 and the average around 14.17.
Vijay :- SR 74.41, Avg 10.67
Watson :- SR 126.19, Avg 17.67
As a result, the burden of the chase fell upon the middle order batsmen. With Faf anchoring the innings scoring above 50 in all three games this season, at the end of 10 overs the total was 70/2, 82/4 and 47/3 respectively. The required run rate after the 10th over however increased significantly from 9.30 in the 1st match to 13.5 in the 2nd and 12.90 in the 3rd, often tough to pursue.
In the game CSK won, both openers departed within 2 overs consuming less than 10% of the deliveries. Against Rajasthan, they scored 24.42% of the required runs taking up 35% of the balls. In the last game it dropped to a 13.63% of the runs in 25.83% of the deliveries. A washed-out Watson who has played only 16 games since the last IPL has scored above 15 runs only once this season. The Monk doesn’t offer much hope to the team either. Being beaten at 13 balls of the 44 he faced in the last 3 matches is far from acceptable in T20 cricket.
It is understandable why the captain got Vijay to open the innings. Nevertheless, it has found a nascent Gaikwad in a predicament, unable to fast-track sufficient runs to upset the opponent. Kedar Jadhav with a strike rate of only 95.85 the whole of last season and has not shown any improvement this season making it cumbersome for the team to play him at the 5th position.
By the time Mahi steps in to bat, he’s just piloting a plane already headed for a crash. If this trend continues in the future it’ll definitely stunt their chances of winning. Fortunately, Rayudu is expected to return in the next game against Hyderabad, which is very promising since he spearheaded their victory against Mumbai.
Having said that, Shreyas Iyer’s captaincy is indeed praiseworthy. Tactically using Axar to bowl to Watson before the left-handed batsmen arrived was a brilliant move on his part. Patel, who won Emerging Player Award in the 2014 season held at UAE is continuing to succeed 6 years later on the same grounds. He had dismissed Watson five times in the previous 8 innings giving up just 6.63 runs an over. Amit Mishra was brought on to an inexperienced Gaikwad and Avesh Khan was introduced when the asking rate was already 13 runs/over. Leaving Rabada and Nortje to thwart Dhoni and seal the deal in the death overs, speaks for the maturity in his thinking. Since 2018, Dhoni has a strike rate of only 124 against short balls from right arm fast bowlers. Half of the 12 balls bowled to him in the match against DC were short at 140+kph off of which he scored only 5 runs.
For Chennai to bounce back on track, it is high time they moved on from Murali Vijay who displayed a lack of intent and prudence. A change in the opening combination would benefit them and Imran Tahir needs to be brought back.
One option could be, having Sam Curran and rookie Ruturaj opening the innings. This will mean a lack of experience at the top but will open up an extra overseas spot to include Tahir. Otherwise, they can drop the overseas pacer for Tahir, with Watson and Gaikwad at the top for a few games. If this plan doesn’t succeed, the pinch hitter Curran can be sent to open.
A sixth bowling option needs to be included, at the cost of either Ruturaj or Jadhav. Kedar should ideally be shown the door, given CSK have Rayudu, Dhoni, Jadeja and Sam Curran to take care of the middle order. Hopefully the 7-day break has given them ample time to contemplate on a robust strategy that will help them recover.
