Chennai Super Kings (CSK) – IPL 2020
5 min read
Introduction
There’s nothing characteristically different in this CSK squad. They have once again put their weight behind experience – in terms of age and in terms of number of IPL matches played. This should be CSK’s toughest season yet with Harbhajan Singh and Suresh Raina, two of the most vital cogs in their wheel set to miss out on the IPL. Rustiness could be a highlight of the team this season but only a naive person would take a MS Dhoni-led team lightly, especially when it comes to the IPL.
Suggestive Playing XI by Mihir Vohra
Mihir’s SWOT Analysis
strengths
- Despite the absence of Harbhajan Singh, their bowling lineup, which includes their all-rounders, look varied and exciting.
- The spinners of CSK are the best spinners among all the teams – some are economical, some are wicket-taking while some have an additional batting ability. The addition of Piyush Chawla has only bolstered that.
- The bench strength of their bowling department is impeccable, with which they will be able to rotate/change their bowling lineup with minimal collateral shuffling.
weaknesses
- First the obvious one – their batting has taken a huge hit with the absence of Suresh Raina. They will only be compounded with the absence of Ruturaj Gaikwad in the beginning.
- The batting seems to lack a certain kill you’d want to see in a winning T20 lineup. This invited Ravindra Jadeja to absorb more batting duties than he’s meant for.
opportunities
- CSK have the opportunity to provide opportunities to a few youngsters in their side.
- Ruturaj Gaikwad can become a batting mainstay, like Raina did, not only for the CSK but for any franchisee he may become a part of in the coming years.
- R Sai Kishore, a tall and promising left-arm orthodox spinner would have limited chances afforded to him, but in those, he has an opportunity to become the next Jadeja. With Bhajji’s absence, Sai Kishore’s pecking order improves by one.
- Apart from these, opportunities will be few and far between for this ageing team.
threats
- With the squad already trimmed down to 22 and flying in last-minute replacements to be an avoidable feature this year, CSK could find themselves in a position where they have to stick with non-performers or not being able to rotate as much as they’d like. But then again, Dhoni is not known to tinker much with his playing XI.
- Without the fan support that a Dhoni-led team enjoys anywhere in India, CSK may not be their regular selves, where they feed off of the crowd’s energy. This could be a huge threat to their performance.
- And here’s the biggest one – without Harbhajan Singh, Dhoni might find it difficult to get the power play overs bowled economically by other bowlers and still have his key bowlers available to bowl the death overs.
player from another team
Ajinkya Rahane —> While Ajinkya Rahane might not be DC’s first choice in the playing XI, at least to start off with, he would definitely find a primary role in this CSK side, especially one which is without Raina.
key player
Shane Watson —> Shane Watson has carried this team’s batting for 2 years now and in each of those years, he had a major say in the finals. This time around, Watson will find himself in more tricky situations, not only with the bat. He may be expected to bowl a few overs for the sake of the team’s balance (assuming he still agrees to bowling).
prediction
As hard as it is to say, and some might refuse to believe it, a first time bottom half finish looms for CSK this year. I will be the happiest to see CSK qualify for the playoffs but that seems improbable at the moment.
Roster
Schedule
Download
Download High Resolution CSK Analytical images here
