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For Chennai Super Kings (CSK) fans, the IPL 2020 season was like a bolt from the blue. The franchise, led by the evergreen MS Dhoni, came in with high expectations, hoping to go one step further than they did last season.
While many doubted the ageing squad, the same crop of players had proved the critics wrong in the past three seasons of the IPL. In fact, MS Dhoni arrived at IPL 2020 as fresh as ever, as he had announced his retirement from international cricket.
The IPL 2020 campaign for the Chennai Super Kings started on a familiar note. The three-time champions manoeuvered a tricky chase against defending champions Mumbai Indians on the opening day of the season. With the win, MS Dhoni and co seemed primed for the task ahead, with games against Rajasthan Royals and Delhi Capitals to come next.
CSK faltered in too many chases in IPL 2020
However, just when it seemed that CSK had got acclimatised to the conditions in IPL 2020, they blinked in six successive run chases.
The team, which in the previous seasons of the IPL had excelled in chasing, were suddenly found wanting in this aspect of the game. CSK seemed to lack any finesse or temperament to overhaul opposition scores.
Even 160-run chases against Sunrisers Hyderabad and Kolkata Knight Riders looked more arduous than they should have been, as the Chennai Super Kings found it hard to keep pace with their required run rate.
No CSK player apart from Ambati Rayudu and debutant Sam Curran showed intent with the bat. Faf du Plessis topped the run charts for CSK this season, but he failed to perform when it mattered most.
Dhoni looked like a pale shadow of his illustrious self; even his captaincy seemed quite off-colour as well. Shane Watson played only one memorable innings in a dominating partnership with Faf du Plessis that sealed a ten-wicket win for CSK against Kings XI Punjab.
Two aspects that were very much associated with CSK this season were their overconfidence and lethargy. In the games against Hyderabad, Kolkata and Rajasthan, the team looked horribly out of sorts.
They deliberately played slow, believing that the final fireworks will pull them through, but that was not to be. By the half-way stage of IPL 2020, CSK looked like a team going through its motions. No wonder, they had only three wins from their first eleven games in the tournament.
Back-to-back defeats against Rajasthan and Mumbai epitomised the lethargy and lack of drive in the team. Had it not been for Sam Curran's exuberant fifty, CSK would have fallen way short of the 114-run total they managed against Mumbai. To add insult to injury, the CSK bowlers conceded that game in only 12.2 overs without managing to pick up a wicket.
It seemed as if CSK wanted to get eliminated only to play positively from thereon. When they found themselves out of contention and freed from the chains of expectations, CSK played one of their best games in the tournament against Bangalore, sealing an eight-wicket win.
The franchise wrapped up two more wins in their more usual fashion to end the competition on a high. Perhaps significantly, one of the players, who was labelled by MS Dhoni to be lacking the 'spark', turned out to be one of the most impressive finds of the tournament for the franchise.
Ruturaj Gaikwad showed excellent temperament in the last few games, scoring vital runs to guide his team to victory. CSK won their final three games in IPL 2020 while chasing, and in all these games, Gaikwad had telling contributions. As poor as the season was for CSK, they can take solace from the fact that they unearthed two decent youngsters.
While captain Dhoni could be back as the leader of the pack for CSK next season, the franchise has a lot of work to do to get back into contention, though. One of them would be to find a new opening combination..
Shane Watson has played his final IPL innings; Faf du Plessis is nearing 35. CSK need someone more dynamic to partner Ruturaj Gaikwad, who has emerged as a prospective opener for the franchise next season.
The CSK middle order looks potent with the likes of Suresh Raina, Ambati Rayudu and MS Dhoni; however, the fact that none of them play regular international cricket anymore is a cause of concern for the franchise.
IPL 2020 was a campaign to forget for CSK fans who would hope their team to come back strong in the next edition of the competition. The franchise will have to build on the gains made at the end of the season to come back better in 2021.
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