(Cricket news) Last year CSK finished last but this season a renewed Super Kings will be hoping for a different outcome. This season Chennai would have been sitting first if not for Kieron Pollard's blinder in Delhi. In 2020, Chennai couldn’t get a grip of the UAE conditions and subsequently finished in the bottom half but this year they have almost stuck with the same tactics and done well in the first half of the season. Chennai currently stand in second place with 10 points from 7 matches having won 5 and lost 2.
As some foreigners opted not to play the IPL, Chennai wont face the same problems of getting in replacements as they have only got one replacement, Josh Hazelwood in instead of the tall left seamer Jason Behrendoff. The first half of the season, a lot of credit should go to their openers Ruturaj Gaikwad and Faf du Plessis as they set up a strong foundation for the rest of the batsmen to follow. Another x factor Chennai discovered was Moeen Ali, who came at number three and smacked the ball over the park to further consolidate their good start. On the bowling front Super Kings heavily relied on Deepak Chahar to take wickets in the powerplay and at the death as it has paid much dividence also. One more area that they have massively improved is that they have the best scoring rate in the middle overs of (9.44) and the death overs (12.86) and they have also hit the most sixes (62) in the competition during the Indian leg.
The concerns going into the tournament might be the aging guns of Dhoni and Raina, these two have been the main stay in this Chennai side for a long time but over the past two years their form hasn’t been upto the mark. In the Indian leg, Dhoni managed only 37 runs in four innings as Raina after scoring an amazing half century in his first match back, hasn't really hit the ground running. Another problem might be the form of the fast bowlers especially the foreigners as Lungi Ngidi and Josh Hazelwood haven’t played that much cricket lately.
Also read: A look back at what happened in the 1st half of Indian Premier League 2021
Stephen Fleming's side will hope to keep the rich vein of form alive as they are on the quest for a third title. The invaluable leadership of Dhoni will hold the key to their success in this second phase of the IPL. The added benefit of having almost the same team for the second phase might also be an added advantage to them. Chennai Super Kings will face Mumbai Indians on saturday 19th September as Faf Du Plessis and Sam Curran might miss the match due to small niggles.
Probable XI for Chennai Super Kings against Mumbai Indians.
1) Ruturaj Gaikwad 2) Robin Uthappa 3) Moeen Ali 4) Suresh Raina 5) Ambati Rayudu 6) Ravindra Jadeja 7) MS Dhoni(c & wk) 8) Shardul Thakur 9) Deepak Chahar 10) Lungi Ngidi 11) Imran Tahir
