‘Unconventional’ Chennai Super Kings grapple with demons of their own doing

In the most recent IPL mega auction in 2018, Chennai Super Kings had decided not to run by the flashiness and went back to the core group they had been able to imbibe in the years before their two-year ban. They were mocked after the auction, yet went on to win their third title before claiming the runners-up trophy the following season. Pragmatism - and not perception and sentiments - was the central idea of the team as there was an ample amount of trust in the process to finalise what must have been a rigorous exercise. 

But what’s ailing them now? Sure enough, the absence of Suresh Raina was a massive hit on their back but how could the team become so bizarre in the process they forgot the basics of a batting order? The first win was not a convincing bowling performance but batting was spot on. In the second game, you could argue that they played the NRR game perfectly after Murali Vijay played out 21 balls for a dogmatic 20 and Faf du Plessis took his time to settle down. But has there been a day MS Dhoni was so underconfident on his own skills and by extension, that of his team, as he was against Delhi Capitals?

Let’s get one thing straight. It is criminal to have Murali Vijay as the opener in 2020. Even if he scores a couple of quick fifties in some matches in the future, he is a liability worth frowning upon and there are no two ways about it. Shane Watson is a big-match player but takes his own time to settle down after which it is still a lottery. Ambati Rayudu somehow gives the assurance of stability which was largely given by Suresh Raina over the years but if your top order combinedly takes 50 balls to settle down, with no guarantee of a dividend, even Andre Russell in his 2019 avatar would find the total daunting. Of course, it doesn’t help when MS Dhoni, who at his prime took on Muttiah Muralitharan and Ajantha Mendis like a piece of cake, is horrified at the prospect of facing spinners in the middle-overs currently. 

Now that Rayudu will be back for the encounter against Sunrisers - a team that is fighting their own demons - there is an impetus to the top order but in the gratification, there lies a statement. Are CSK brave enough to show Vijay the door and ask Ruturaj Gaikwad, who, for all his success in domestic cricket is still a conservative batsman, to open alongside Watson? Can they do away with Kedar Jadhav, who doesn’t bowl anymore, a liability on the field and moreover, a total tragedy with the bat, to warm the bench and bring in a more fluid option like N Jagadeeshan at the top of the order and have Dhoni push himself up to fill in the void? Because we all know where the buck stops and in the realisation of this lies CSK’s biggest appraisal for the season ahead. MS Dhoni is the key and a strong statement to hit the nail will distil the dust out of the “muddled” water.