IPL 2019: A change that could benefit CSK's batting immediately

IPL 2019 has reached its business end, and everyone is awaiting the start of the playoffs now. Teams like Chennai Super Kings and Delhi Capitals booked their seats to the next stage, and it now seems like a four-way battle for the fourth and final spot.

With the playoffs around the corner, let us have a look at the what has been right this year and what could go wrong for CSK.

The Positives: Excellent bowling department

The whimsical bowling department of CSK has had a great role to play in their successful stint this year. Under the likes of Imran Tahir, Ravindra Jadeja, and Harbhajan Singh, Chennai's attack is one of the best in the league. Tahir is placed second in the wicket-takers list with 21 wickets from 13 games at an average of below 15. Jadeja and Harbhajan have managed to scalp 12 and 10 wickets respectively in this season.

The Negatives: Inconsistent batting unit

One major issue Chennai Super Kings should sort out before the playoffs is their deprived batting unit. Barring a couple of good innings, the batting trio of Shane Watson, Ambati Rayudu and Suresh Raina are yet to perform consistently in this season. The skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni has been fantastic with the bat this season as he has scored 358 runs from 11 games at an outstanding average of 119. But, the rest of the batting is yet to fire this season.

What’s the ideal change

One ideal change the CSK can make in their playing XI for the playoffs is replacing Shane Watson with Murali Vijay. Barring a match-winning 96 against the Surisers Hyderabad, Shane Watson has been a thorough failure this year. He has scored just 251 runs from 13 games so far. (excluding the numbers against SRH, it becomes an even worse number of 155 runs from 12 games)

Including Murali Vijay in the playing XI could give better stability to their side at the top. The only match that Vijay played this year, saw him scoring a gritty 38 against the Mumbai Indians. Adding to this, he has scored over 300 runs in 5 seasons of the IPL making him a classy customer at the crease.

Chennai Super Kings having performed well till now, before heading into the playoffs can make the above change to get an edge over their counterparts who are all geared up for the final phase of the league.

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