IPL 2019 and the CSK strategy of taking the game back by a decade

Chennai Super Kings, by both stats and reputation, are one of the most successful teams in the IPL. CSK have always had a strong team, an iconic captain and a fiercely loyal fan base. But if these alone would have won the title for any franchise, the IPL would have had more names on the trophy that it has by now.

What makes teams like CSK different in terms of the results they achieve and their consistency year after year is shrewd thinking and a set strategy to amalgamate all the things mentioned above. And in the opening encounter of IPL 2019, they have made it fairly obvious what their go-to strategy this year is - taking the game back by a decade.

This year's IPL has witnessed what could be possibly termed one of the most boring IPL openers ever. On a pitch that was turning square, RCB crumbled like only they can, and ended up with a mere 70 runs on the board. The innings saw 10 out of the 11 RCB batsmen falling for single digit scores.

Chennai offered all their respect and hospitality to the visitors though. They took the game till the 18th over, and in fact used up three balls more than RCB's innings to score the winning runs.

CSK have so far played 9 IPLs excluding the ongoing one. In each of these 9 editions they have made the play-offs; they remain the only team to have achieved this distinction.

CSK is a very efficient and technical team that goes by a set plan more than the rush of adrenaline to win matches, quite in the style of their iconic captain - MS Dhoni. This time too CSK seem to have hit the sweet notes right away, and the strategy seems set.

If the first game was anything to go by, CSK's ideology and winning logic this time is to take the game back by a decade. And if we analyse the team composition and their careers it is not difficult to understand why.

CSK is a team of veterans, many of whom played their prime years almost a decade back. The game today is vastly different from the one that these guys were accustomed to in their primes (although that is not to say that any of them cannot play the modern brand of cricket).

The pitch at Chepauk is a rank turner, the kind that would have made heads turn even if it were to be the pitch on the opening day of a Test match in the subcontinent. Imagine that kind of a pitch being dished out for a T20 event; it's easily understandable why it came as a surprise to the opposition.

As Deepak Chahar came on to bowl the opening over, there was absolutely no pace on offer in the pitch. Commentators would go on to predict that the pitch would become better with time as the dew settled in, but it never did.

Chahar had made a name for himself as a good opening swing bowler in the last IPL itself, but the Chepauk would aid his case today. It was in many ways reminiscent of the Indian pace attacks of the past where the the likes of Praveen Kumar or even Zaheer Khan in the 2011 World Cup would bowl deliveries in the late 120s and swing the ball both ways.

It is even more important to analyse the key wicket-takers. Out of the 10 RCB wickets, Shimron Hetmyer was run out by the Raina-MSD combination. Harbhajan and Tahir picked up 3 wickets each, while Ravindra Jadeja picket up 2. Dwayne Bravo picked up the last wicket.

While Bravo has officially retired from international cricket, it is interesting to note that all the other 3 players are those who are out of favor with their national team set ups, at least in the shortest format of the game. These are players who have struggled to get accustomed to the recent developments in the game, including flat pitches and high run rates.

With the current Chepauk surface, CSK have brought these players into their comfort zones and thereby taken most of the other teams out of their's.

MSD was always known as a captain of spinners. It always seemed like he was in better control dictating both the pace and direction of the game when he had spinners operating from both ends. Add to that his astute ability to read the game and players, and you know exactly why the strategy has taken its form.

CSK have always tried to preserve their home ground as a fortress, and by the looks of it this year won't offer any chance of a surprise. If CSK can win 5 or 6 out of the 7 games that they play at the Chepauk, they can rely on the likes of Shane Watson, Suresh Raina, Ambati Rayudu, Bravo and MSD himself to win them 2-3 games in their travelling matches.

This would give them the 8 wins that would see them through to the playoffs. And from there on it's anybody's game anyway.

The blueprint is out there for the world to see. It's now up to the opposition to think around it. The strategy might not be best for the game, but it sure is the best for CSK.

Well played CSK!