For many players, IPL is a ‘respite’ between the hustle and bustle of international cricket. But when it comes to Chennai Super Kings, they will evaluate the 10 months of preparations led by their ‘boss’ MS Dhoni during these two months. The gap between the 2 seasons of the IPL is a time for Chennai to make preparations, from finding domestic players to bringing in young players who have excelled in other cricket leagues. This time, there are ‘super professional’ things behind Chennai Super Kings’ fifth title.
∙ Stability of the team
The same thing playing eleven in a season; One of the success mantras that Chennai Super Kings and Captain MS Dhoni have continued in the last 14 seasons is as follows. Even if the performance is bad, Dhoni is not ready to remove the players from the playing eleven. Dhoni’s method is to give them maximum confidence by giving them the opportunity again and again and thereby raising them to their best.
∙ Planning is important
Chennai go into every game with a precise plan to get every batsman out of the opposing team. For example, Dhoni knew that he had to get rid of Shubman Gill first in order to defeat Gujarat in the final.
Dhoni asked Tusshar Deshpande, who came to bowl the second over, to bowl on Gill’s body line, and kept Deepak Chahar in a catch position between short square leg and short fine leg.
Gill played the fourth ball of the second over towards Chahar. But Chahar could not keep the hold on the handle. Jadeja was brought in after realizing Gill’s difficulty in dealing with left-arm spinners. Gill was blocked by Dhoni off Jadeja and dismissed.
∙ Team Formation
Instead of chasing big names, Chennai’s approach is to bring in the required players in every department of the team, especially domestic players.
A handful of domestic pacers like Tusshar Deshpande, Akash Singh, Simranjeet Singh, Ajay Mandal and Rajvardhan Hungergekar have featured in Chennai’s bowling line-up this time.
Part of this strategy was the inclusion of young Sri Lankan players Matisha Pathirana and Mahish Theekshana.
∙ The X Factor
Every season, Chennai brings in one or two players who can be crucial in the team’s performance. The arrival of Ajinkya Rahane was one such. Chennai picked up Rahane, who was ignored by all other teams, branded as a player who did not fit the Twenty20 format. Rahane has scored 326 runs at a strike rate of 172.48 this season. In this way, only Chennai Super Kings claimed the ability to bring in the players who were eliminated by other teams and turn them into the X factor of the team.
English summary : Formation of new Chennai Super Kings team
