IPL 2021: 3 CSK players who impressed and 2 who flopped

#3 Sam Curran

CSK all-rounder Sam Curran celebrates a wicket. Pic: IPLT20.COM

Another England all-rounder, Sam Curran, proved his worth to CSK in IPL 2021. He was impactful with his left-arm bowling, claiming nine wickets in seven games at a strike rate of under 17.

Curran’s best of 3 for 34 came in the high-scoring clash against MI, a game in which he dismissed Krunal Pandya, Hardik Pandya and Jimmy Neesham. He also picked up 2 for 24 in the win over RR. His victims included opposition captain Sanju Samson. He suffered at the hands of Pat Cummins in the match against KKR, but that was a one off.

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Curran contributed with the bat as well. Coming in during the slog overs, he hammered 34 off 15 against DC to lift CSK to a competitive 188 for 7. The franchise will look to utilise his batting skills more efficiently in the second half of IPL 2021.

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Two CSK players who failed to impress in the first half of IPL 2021

#1 MS Dhoni

MS Dhoni looked out of form with the bat in the first half of IPL 2021. Pic: IPLT20.COM

CSK captain MS Dhoni did not have a great time with the bat in the first half of IPL 2021. He did not look in any kind of rhythm at all with the willow. Most of his attempted big hits failed to find the middle of the bat. Age finally seems to be catching up with the champion player.

Dhoni began IPL 2021 with a second-ball duck against DC, bowled by Avesh Khan. His highest score of 18 came against RR, a game in which he was undone by another young pacer, Chetan Sakariya. Dhoni promoted himself up the order against KKR and contributed 17 off eight.

The CSK captain played four innings in the first half of IPL 2021, and scored 37 runs at a strike rate of 123.33. Even as he struggled in front of the stumps, Dhoni remained agile behind it.

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#2 Shardul Thakur

Shardul Thakur proved very expensive for CSK. Pic: IPLT20.COM

Heading into IPL 2021, a lot was expected of CSK’s pace bowling all-rounder Shardul Thakur following his exploits in international cricket. Thakur picked up five wickets in seven games at an economy rate of 10.33 and an average of 53.4, though.

The CSK medium-pacer, known for his variations, failed to make much of an impact on the batters, and was easily taken for runs. In CSK’s first match against DC, Thakur conceded 53 runs in 3.4 overs while picking up two wickets. Although he gave away only 35 against PBKS, he went wicketless and did not look threatening at all.

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In the victory over KKR, Thakur again disappointed, going for 48 runs in 3.1 overs. After impressing with 1 for 11 against RCB, he was hammered for 44 and 56 runs by SRH and MI, respectively. Thakur will be the first to admit that his performances were underwhelming.