With the IPL 2021 schedule rolled out, fans of the cash-rich tournament are eager to see how teams fare this year. The fact that the BCCI has announced that IPL 2021 will be held in India has only fuelled the excitement. The player auctions of the tournament happened a month ago in Chennai and all teams filled the gaps and leaks in their squad with some quality players.
Chennai Super Kings , the three time champion side are coming into IPL 2021 after a bad season that didn't earn them a playoff spot for the first time in their history. Ageing players, lack of intent and "spark", unavailability of certain players were cited as reasons, but their Cool Captain does know that reasons don't justify their performance. The men in yellow will be daring to go and prove the critics wrong. Here are some points that augur well for the men in yellow to have a good season.
Auction action to the fore:
Letting go of Ashwin in the 2018 auction didn't affect CSK much in the 2018 and 2019 season , but did haunt them badly in the 2020 season. The absence of Harbhajan singh made things as CSK were stranded with no off spinning option in their squad (Unavailability of Raina deepened the wound obviously). Addressing this issue, CSK have signed Moeen ali, who could bowl off spinners and can be a valuable addition to the batting department as well. With the kind of skillset the English all rounder possesses, it wont be a surprise if CSK banks on him throughout the season. Signing K.Gowtham as an alternate for Moeen Ali can be justified by the fact that CSK can field only 4 foreigners and Dhoni's dim finishing in the recent past. Every superhero need his own weapon to fight it out. Now that Dhoni has got his off spinning weapons in his artillery , CSK should be able to punch their opponents a lot harder this time.
Sparks to flames :
“We didn't see a lot of spark in them”.
Believe it or not, MS Dhoni told this when addressing to Ruturaj Gaikwad and N.Jagadeesan. Ruturaj showed enough spark in his last three outings last season and Jagadeesan emerged as the highest run getter in the recently conducted SMAT. If the problem of lack of intent has to be solved by CSK, CSK should depend on talented youngsters and CSK has got some at their disposal this year. With Sai Kishore and Harishankar Reddy impressing over the domestic circuits, its going to be a problem of plenty for MS Dhoni with the youngsters. But we all know there is no better mentor for an youngster than MS Dhoni. IPL 2021 will be the MS Dhoni of 2007 where a lot of trust were given upon the youngsters. We cant see a Long haired MS Dhoni , but the possibilities are there for us to see MS Dhoni with a trophy though. We hear you! We want it to happen too!!!
Spin factory:
Spin to win has been CSK's mantra over the years. The same backfired last year, but CSK can worry less about that since IPL is back in India and we know how the ball spins here :-p (We hear you English fans!). With a strong spin contingent covering all bases, CSK are undoubtedly one of the best bowling sides this IPL. MSD behind the stumps, spinners in tandem , Indian Pitches , You know the result!
With all stars aligned towards the men in yellow this time, it is more certain that CSK will fight much harder this time. The holes in the ship are no more, the sparks are flaming brightly, are we going to see another CSK domination this year? Definitely Yes! .
Thanks for the read! Drop your favorite CSK moment in the comments. Mine is the win against MI in the 2018 IPL opener. (Now I'm rushing to see the highlights once again. Bye)
