The Super Kings 'Debacle'

After their defeat to Highveld Lions and with only two matches left in the league stage, Chennai’s chance of sealing the semi-final spot looks slimmer than ever. Chennai find themselves at the bottom of the table after suffering two crushing defeats in the group stage of the Champions League. On both occasions, Dhoni’s squad selection wasn’t ideal for the conditions and the nature of the wicket. Chennai Super Kings, therefore will have to win the next two matches by bigger margin which indeed is a tough task. They won’t find any difficulty against Yorkshire, but the question is whether they would able to replicate the same against Mumbai Indians, who have quality stroke makers in their line-up.

Truly, in both matches, Chennai Super Kings had their chances, but they failed to deliver in slog overs. In their first match against Sydney Sixers, they had them under control till the 18th over of the match but the 19th over bowled by Bollinger produced 22 runs which ultimately changed the course of the match and consequently, Chennai Super Kings had to chase at a rate of more than 9.00 runs per over. Indeed, Chennai got off to a blistering start despite the loss of Murali Vijay. Faf Du Plessis and Hussey put on a handy partnership of 61 runs which gave some momentum for Chennai Super Kings. Neither Du Plessis nor Hussey were able to convert their starts into half-centuries and as a result, Chennai Super Kings lost narrowly by 14 runs. Faf Du Plessis played some glorious shots and he looked as if he’s going to take the Super Kings home, which actually did not happen. Had he been cool and composed, Chennai would have had their chances.

Even in their second match against the Lions, a majority of the batsman crossed 20-run mark and left the job unfinished. Dhoni was the only man to have crossed 30-run mark and clobbered the Lions’ pacers out of the park. At least one of their top batsmen should spend sometime at the centre which allows MSD to reserve Albie Morkel down the order.

One more aspect is that Chennai Super Kings skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni rarely bats up the order. If he promotes himself up the order like what he did against Lions, it gives him a bit of time to assess the wicket and the conditions before taking the aerial route. He must have taken the responsibility of batting up the order in such a tough task against Sydney’s quality seamers. He had also faced Starc, Cummins and Henriques in the ICC World Twenty20 2012, which means he perhaps knows to handle their attack. Dhoni therefore should bat up the order in the next couple of matches to up the ante.

Another concern for Chennai Super Kings is their bowling in the death overs. Their most reliable bowler’s are Hilfenhaus, Bollinger and Morkel in the slog overs and Ashwin in the middle of the innings. Ashwin, however, has failed to deliver with ball for Dhoni. Actually, Dhoni constantly used him as attacking bowler, but on this occasion the surface was not ideal for him as he was taken for runs easily. Dhoni perhaps should have used more fast bowlers than the spinners as the conditions at South Africa are ideal for quality pace-bowlers.

Nevertheless, Chennai Super Kings still have an outside chance of making it to the semi-finals. Their best performances come in crunch situations. For that, Dhoni has to select the squad according to the conditions and nature of the wicket. If he does that, then Chennai would certainly come out as winners! It’s a tough task, but Men-in-Yellow are capable of under MSD as they had also won a Champions League here at South Africa.