Unheralded, understated and unfinished - CSK just have a way with players

April 17, M. Chinnaswamy Stadium, Chennai Super Kings (CSK) versus Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB). The venue is packed to the rafters and the players out in the middle can hardly hear their own heartbeat.

It goes into raptures when MS Dhoni walks out to bat, faces a grand total of one ball and shanks it towards long on for a single. There is an even greater roar when Virat Kohli muscles a leg-side boundary in the first over. And then, a hush as the ball trickles off his pads and dislodges the off bail. Just one bail. Not more, not less.

The crowd then finds its voice again as Glenn Maxwell and Faf du Plessis produce an assault for the ages. Anything that is pitched on a length is threatening to disturb people gathered at Cubbon Park. Anything shorter, and those on MG Road are on high alert.

The decibel levels, of course, have reached astronomical proportions. Every moment is being scrutinized. Every ball is an event. So, it is, more or less, what an average CSK-RCB game looks like.

Understandably, the CSK side is filled with players that, according to many, are either unsuitable for T20 cricket, or have run their race. At the end of it all, though, it is CSK who win, and those assumptions seem very fickle and, for the lack of a better word, quite dumbfounded.

But there is a method to this madness. It is a method CSK have mastered, and it is a method that they will take to their grave, if it comes to that.

CSK win against RCB with several unheralded players performing

When Ruturaj Gaikwad fell early in their innings, the visitors were under pressure. Ajinkya Rahane, who has not played an international game for about a year, walked out. Till a fortnight ago, there were question marks over why he was acquired at the auction, let alone starting in the eleven.

Now, after a belligerent fifty against the Mumbai Indians, Rahane could not look more at home. He did not get to a half-century against RCB but his attacking intent in the powerplay ensured that Devon Conway could settle at the other end. Oh, and Rahane also saved quite a few runs for the visitors, which included an extraordinary attempt to stop a Maxwell six off Ravindra Jadeja.

Speaking of Conway, not many would put him down as an archetypal T20 opener either. He does not smash the ball onto the roofs of stadiums and does not make a living playing expansive scoops and reverse laps. What he does, though, is bat smartly, and that, at times, is what is required as everyone rattles along at a million miles per hour in the IPL.

Then, comes Shivam Dube – a batter who, Dhoni admitted at the post-match presentation, has an issue against pacers. If you still ask why he is batting as high as at No. 4, especially for a team as pedigreed as CSK, well, you have been watching them wrong from the start.

He bats so high because he can, in Dhoni’s words, use his reach to attack the spinners. In a sport that does not seem to value body mechanics, for it gives players tools (bat and ball) to work with, this is what CSK are banking on. And when Dube cracks the roof of the Chinnaswamy Stadium multiple times (yes, there is some exaggeration here), it all makes sense.

Now to their bowling.

Tushar Deshpande has been in and around the CSK set-up for a couple of years. But for a bowler who has occasionally burst onto the domestic scene, a tally of 48 T20s also shows that he has not been trusted enough. CSK have not only placed faith in him, they seem to have earmarked him as one of their primary death bowlers, hoping that he can reprise the role Dwayne Bravo performed for so many years.

No pressure, lad.

Let us move to Maheesh Theekshana now. He is, what you might call, a mystery spinner and one every team would love to have. When his name came up at the auction in 2022, however, not many teams showed interest. CSK did, and despite dropping two sitters, he went on to rip the game open by dismissing Maxwell.

Similarly, Matheesha Pathirana’s unorthodox action is very enviable. That, though, comes at the cost of inconsistency. CSK, perhaps because they were so short-handed last year, took that punt, signing the youngster as a replacement.

For all the likenesses to Lasith Malinga, this was still a bowler with barely any international experience. On Monday, he delivered two sizzling overs at the death that even made Malinga proud. And if Malinga is tweeting about someone, that is a pretty good advertisement.

Oh, and among all of this, Jadeja bowled four excellent overs (at less than 10 runs per over), and Moeen Ali sent du Plessis back to the shed. The Chinnaswamy was supposed to be a graveyard for the spinners, with all the dew that was around. But one ball spun, and then, nothing else made a difference.

Dhoni, against RCB, also demonstrated a rather strange but true sporting philosophy. There will be occasions when the opposition has more resources, more momentum, and the perfect set-up to finish the job. But sometimes, just sometimes, allowing the opposition to lose the match is just as important as you winning it.

Yes, it sounds absurd but it is not everyone’s kettle of fish to handle pressure. CSK soaked it all up like a sponge, especially at the death. RCB imploded, and the eight-run victory margin was not down to as much cricketing merit as it was to being composed when it mattered most.

That is what CSK have done over the years. That is what Dhoni does whenever he steps onto the field.

An aspect that is easily identifiable with them is how they make the most of whoever turns up in yellow prior to a season.

Try asking any IPL fan what their ideal side would look like, and not even a handful would have any of Conway, Deshpande, Dube, Pathirana or Rahane in it. Yet, they all started against RCB and played crucial roles. Most importantly, it never felt that they were out of their depth. It felt as if they were destined to be such massive difference-makers all along.

CSK have a way. It might not be very fashionable, and it definitely does not generate as much social media buzz as having a string of supposed A-listers. But it gets the job done.

That is what the IPL is all about. That is what CSK are all about too.