After ending the IPL 2020 in the 7th place of the points table Chennai Super Kings were expected to have some important buys in the auction of this year’s tournament. While some of their purchases looked interesting, a few were surprising too. Chennai bought Cheteshwar Pujara, the domestic giant who had not so great IPL memories. But the experience can be useful later maybe. They stacked up Krishnappa Gowtham and Moeen Ali that just show Chennai’s love for spinners.
The English all-rounder came up with a decent 36 off 24 when the openers were dismissed early with just seven runs on board. But with the ball in hand, Moeen Ali turned out to be quite expensive and bowled at economy of 11 for three overs. Chennai’s most depending batsman from last season Faf du Plessis failed to contribute in the first match of IPL 2021 against Delhi Capitals. Ruturaj Gaikwad also did not perform. However, Chennai lacked having a back-up opener in the auction which means they will have to work with the present set. The middle order did well, especially the comeback of Suresh Raina saw him scoring another IPL half-century. However, MS Dhoni fell for a duck. Talking about the bowling, Chennai played Deepak Chahar, Sam Curran, Shardul Thakur, Dwayne Bravo as Moeen Ali and Ravindra Jadeja bowled combined five overs. They played a total of six still could not stop Delhi from chasing down the massive target successfully. Let’s not forget Chennai have Imran Tahir at bench along with the new recruit Gowtham.
Since Chennai’s batting was satisfactory, they would like to work on their bowling unit this time. But one of the openers must stay there to give them a good start. Everyone in the middle order scored some runs in the previous but the scenario may not be same always. For Chennai Super Kings, the problem remains the average age. They are called ‘Daddy’s Army’ and the age has started showing impact on some of the key players like Dhoni and Tahir. In fact, the side effects can be seen during fielding as well and dropped catches in last match justifies the fact. If Chennai can overcome the age issue and can utilize the options, they have strategically they can have a good IPL yet again. The good part is that Chennai have played only one match so far and can easily address these issues as soon as possible. .
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