"They didn't have such a bad start in 2020 as well" - Aakash Chopra on the Chennai Super Kings losing their first 3 matches of IPL 2022

Aakash Chopra has highlighted that the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) have gotten off to a poor start in IPL 2022, which is even worse than their disastrous campaign in the 2020 edition of the league.

CSK have come up short in their first three matches of the ongoing edition of the Indian Premier League. They are currently placed at the penultimate spot in the IPL 2022 points table, only above the Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH), who have a couple of additional games in hand.

In a video shared on his YouTube channel, Aakash Chopra reflected on the Chennai Super Kings' defeat against the Punjab Kings (PBKS), their third consecutive loss at the start of the tournament. He said:

"It was an important game because Chennai had come after losing their first two matches, that they should start winning from here or else the 2020 feel is coming. They didn't have such a bad start in 2020 as well, let's be honest, they had won one match there also. Chennai had not lost the first three matches in IPL history but now it has happened."

The former Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) player pointed out that Ruturaj Gaikwad having a lean run once again at the start of the tournament has hit the Chennai Super Kings hard. Chopra elaborated:

"Ruturaj Gaikwad has had three consecutive bad matches and it is the third consecutive season where he has not scored runs in the first three matches. This is a serious issue if you are not going to score runs in the first three matches of every season and that is when you are playing as an opener. That's definitely not okay for a team to go further or even for a player, why will they invest in you if you are not going to score runs."

Gaikwad has managed a total of two runs across his three innings in IPL 2022 thus far. Apart from the lack of runs from his willow, last year's IPL Orange Cap winner has not looked too comfortable in the middle.

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"It was a foregone conclusion after that" - Aakash Chopra on the Chennai Super Kings losing 4 wickets in the powerplay

Shivam Dube was the only Chennai Super Kings batter to put up a fight [P/C: iplt20.com]

Aakash Chopra highlighted that the match was almost done and dusted when the Chennai Super Kings lost a plethora of wickets in the first six overs. He observed:

"Robin Uthappa did not have a good day. Moeen Ali also got out for a duck. Ravindra Jadeja comes up the order and he also gets out. You had lost four wickets in 5.3 overs. Just think about it - you lost 4 wickets in the powerplay while chasing 180. It was a foregone conclusion after that."

While lauding Shivam Dube's effort with the bat, the renowned commentator added that MS Dhoni seemed to have almost given up on the win. Chopra explained:

"Shivam Dube played well again. This could be his season of reckoning, it seems it is his season, he is doing very well. MS Dhoni stood for a long time. It seemed he was not trying that much, he was just trying to reduce the margin of defeat."

Dhoni scored a painstaking 23 runs off 28 deliveries. Although the Chennai Super Kings were reduced to a score of 36/5 when he walked out to the middle, his defensive approach put the four-time champions further behind the eight ball.