Preview of Chennai Super Kings for IPL 2020
Chennai Super Kings is the most successful team in IPL
history. They are the only team to reach the playoffs stage every time. Under
the captaincy of MS Dhoni, CSK won back to back titles in 2010 and 2011. After
returning from a 2-year ban, they won their third title in 2018.
After Mumbai Indians, CSK is the second team to win 100 IPL matches. They played so far 165 matches with 100 wins, 63 losses, 1 tied won, and 1 tied loss coming at a winning percentage of 61.28.
CSK start their 2020 IPL journey in the opening match to be
played at Sheikh Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi on 19th September. It
promises to be a cracking start to the tournament as runners-up and Champions
of last year will face each other.
Performance of CSK in 2019
Chennai Super King's performance in last year’s IPL was
superb. They had the same number of points as of Mumbai Indians but due to poor
net run rate, CSK finished at 2nd place. CSK lost to Mumbai Indians
in the qualifier 1 before defeating Delhi Capitals in qualifier 2 to book a
place in the finals.
It was an amazing final that went right down the wire as CSK
lost the finals by just 1 run. CSK batting did not live up to the reputation as
their batting struggled. MS Dhoni was the top run-getter for them last year
with 416 runs from 15 matches (12 innings) with 3 half-centuries. His highest
score in the tournament was 84* against Royal Challengers Bangalore.
South African legend Imran Tahir was superb for CSK as he
finished the leading wicket-taker in the tournament with 26 wickets from 17
matches (17 innings) at an economy of 6.69 runs per over. Deepak Chahar also
contributed to CSK brilliant run in the tournament taking 22 wickets from 17
matches (17 innings) at an economy of 7.47 runs per over. Chahar ended the
tournament as the 3rd leading wicket-taker.
Retained Players
MS Dhoni, Faf du Plessis, Murali Vijay, Ravindra Jadeja,
Mitchell Santer, Lungi Ngidi, Kedar Jadhav, Ambati Rayudu, KM Asif, Narayan Jagadeeshan,
Shardul Thakur, Shane Watson, Suresh Raina, Harbhajan Singh, Deepak Chahar,
Ruturaj Gaikwad, Monu Kumar, Karn Sharma, Dwayne Bravo.
Released Players
Sam Billings, David Willey, Mark Wood, Dhruv Shorey, Mohit Sharma,
Chaitanya Bishnoi.
Bought Players
Sam Curran, Piyush Chawla, Sai Kishore, Josh Hazlewood
Players to watch out
MS Dhoni
MS Dhoni announced retirement from international cricket
last month. Before the lockdown, he practiced hard for this year’s IPL. With no
Suresh Raina in the batting order, the responsibility lies on Dhoni to lead
from the front as a captain and contribute runs to help CSK post totals or
chase down.
He would be playing with a relaxed mind and make sure that CSK does
well in the batting department. With the pitches likely to help the spinners,
Dhoni needs to take charge and help CSK win matches.
Dwyane Bravo
Dwyane Bravo is one of the key bowlers for Chennai Super
Kings. In the recently concluded CPL tournament, he achieved the feat of
becoming the first bowler to take 500 wickets in the T20 format.
He has done wonders for Chennai Super Kings. In last year’s
IPL, Bravo struggled with the ball going for runs in the death overs. His
strength is to deceive the batsmen with slower ones and bowl yorkers at will.
Bravo would play a key role for CSK in this year’s IPL with
both bat and ball. With a weak batting, the West Indies all-rounder needs to step
up and show his worth.
Chennai Super Kings will be without their two key players as
Suresh Raina and Harbhajan Singh have withdrawn for personal reasons. Shane
Watson, Rayudu, Kedar Jadhav struggled in last year’s IPL.
CSK have a good bowling unit with top-quality spinners in
Jadeja, Imran Tahir, Santer who put opposition batsmen under pressure. If their
batting unit can click, they have a good chance to defend totals.
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