IPL 2018: The great CSK robbery

Chennai Super Kings were apparently finished the moment Rashid Khan bamboozled MS Dhoni with a sensational googly.

They were seemingly done for when Dwayne Bravo edged a Rashid leg break to first slip. They were surely out of hope when Ravindra Jadeja spooned a slower ball straight back to Sandeep Sharma.

They could start to prepare for their trip to Kolkata when Deepak Chahar holed out to long-on. And they were clearly buried when Harbhajan Singh was run-out.

CSK may have pulled off heist after heist in this tournament – and in the years past – but what were the odds of them getting 43 off 18 balls, against the best bowling line-up of this IPL?

On a pitch where the ball was stopping on the batsman (four caught-and-bowled dismissals in the game) and where the spinners extracted turn and bite. With Dhoni back in the dugout, what chance did CSK have against the genius of Rashid Khan, the accuracy of Siddarth Kaul, the miserliness of Bhuvaneshwar Kumar, the craftiness of Sandeep Sharma and the expert game-awareness of Kane Williamson?

On what basis could they expect to thwart the Ministry of Defense (as some commentators have labeled Sunrisers Hyderabad through this tournament). Surely, with Faf du Plessis lacking match practice and having only the tail for company – there was no way that they could conjure up another jail-break?

Hang on, says du Plessis drilling Carlos Brathwaite over cover for four. Don’t you dare leave the stadium now, he warns, lifting the next ball over square for a crackling six.

I may have done little of note in the league stages, he screams, but watch me under-edge a short ball to the fine-leg fence and shrink the target to 27 of 14. Even a wicket off the next ball (the Harbhajan run-out thanks to an electric throw from Rashid at the cover fence) doesn’t bother du Plessis.

If we have to go down, he thunders at the top of his voice – slashing a square drive past point for another sizzling four – we’re going to go down swinging.

Should Brathwaite have bowled the 18th over? Should Bhuvaneshwar have bowled the 19th instead of Kaul? Should Kaul have had a third man and fine leg in the circle when he was going to bowl straight and fast against Shardul Thakur (with the ensuing lucky edges flying away for fours)? These are all valid questions for Sunrisers to ponder.

But let’s give CSK some credit for their batting depth here. And let’s also applaud their willingness to bide their time before going all out.

They played out Rashid’s final over (taking just one run of the 16th) and made sure they didn’t lose their heads against Kaul in the 17th.

Other teams might have panicked when 47 were needed off 24 but CSK – after years of being in similar situations, after having seen Dhoni pull off tense chase after tense chase, after repeatedly watching their batsmen take the game to the final over – were patient enough to wait for Sunrisers to bring on their weakest bowler.

They knew that a four here and a six there can get part-time bowlers to lose their lengths, for captains to lose their calm and for fielders to make elementary mistakes.

They knew they needed some luck going for them, yes, but they also gave themselves the best chance of getting those lucky breaks. The harder you practice, as Arnold Palmer famously said, the luckier you get.

And like most teams that somehow find a way to win, CSK have had a hero for every occasion.

Whether it was Bravo and Kedar Jadhav on the opening night or Sam Billings against KKR or Raina in the final league match (or Rayudu and Watson or Dhoni at through the tournament); whether it was Tahir’s leg breaks in the early games or Jadeja’s and Ngidi’s telling impact in the last few games – CSK have always had someone stand up.

“It's not easy to not play a lot of games, Dhoni said after the match, referring to du Plessis’ knock, “but I always say you need to train your mind as well. That's where the experience comes in. You visualize what your role is, how you can contribute.”

Of all the lessons teams can take from CSK, this is most vital: to create an environment where every player grabs his chance, where batsmen warm the bench for weeks and produce a match-winning knock on demand.

CSK may or may not win the final on Sunday – after all, if they have any weakness it is that they have lost four of six finals so far.

But, it will take something special to knock them out this time. For just when you think they are truly finished they remind you that the fight has only just begun.