Chennai Super Kings ran into a pickle after losing three of their last five matches in IPL 2024, leading to their marginal exit from the group stages after a 17-run loss to Royal Challengers Bengaluru. Speculations on MS Dhoni’s future soon eclipsed questions on Ruturaj Gaikwad’s captaincy as the cricketing fraternity wondered whether another “Main pal do pal ka shayar hu” post was on its way. Fast forward a year, and the cricket fans have been proved wrong. Here we are, India’s most successful white ball captain MS Dhoni rubbishing retirement rumours to don the yellow for yet another season at 43.
Dhoni has been retained for INR 4 crore under a rule re-introduced this year which classifies retired players inactive for over five years, as uncapped. Gaikwad (18 Cr), Matheesha Pathirana (INR 13 Cr), and Shivam Dube (INR 12 Cr) are CSK’s first three retentions while Ravindra Jadeja (18 Cr) and Dhoni (INR 4 Cr) are the fourth and fifth retentions. With INR 55 crores and an RTM card in the bank, it would be interesting to analyze the five-time champions’ potential auction strategies for IPL 18.
Powerplay
CSK didn’t quite have a great powerplay last season, be it with the bat or ball. Ruturaj Gaikwad was the only positive at the top of the order with Devon Conway sidelined due to injury and Rachin Ravindra failing to be consistent. Ajinkya Rahane was another such batter who often featured at the top but 242 runs at an average of 20.17 didn’t quite do justice to his potential. The management constantly shuffled the top order throughout the tourney and the results aren’t pleasing. They scored 698 runs across 14 innings at a strike rate of 138.49. Only Lucknow Super Giants, Rajasthan Royals, and Gujarat Titans had lower strike rates inside the six overs than CSK. Although they lost wickets at the rate of 1.36 per game, which is quite low compared to the other teams, the value of powerplay gets undermined when fewer runs are scored in this phase.
It’s important to understand that CSK would be looking for a power-packed player at the top. Given their low budget, top-order aggregators such as Jake Fraser-McGurk, Matt Short, Jonny Bairstow, Evin Lewis, and Conway could be great options. From an Indian perspective, they could go for some Maharashtra or Mumbai-based players as the trend has been of late. Someone like Prithvi Shaw or Ayush Mhatre (who impressed in CSK’s trials) could be on their radar for the top-order spot.
Regarding their bowling department, CSK was plagued with multiple injuries throughout the season. Deepak Chahar missed the majority of the tournament, leaving CSK devoid of a new ball specialist. The numbers speak for themselves. Among all teams, the Men in Yellow picked up the least number of wickets (15) inside the powerplay at an economy of 8.77. They also missed the service of left-arm seamer Mukesh Chaudhary, who was a standout in the 2022 edition, bagging 16 scalps in his debut season. Moreover, Mustafizur Rahman and Matheesha Pathirana suffered injuries now and then, adding further woes to their bowling unit. To eradicate such issues in the future, CSK might be tempted to rope in the likes of Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Khaleel Ahmed, who can serve as a like-for-like replacement to Deepak and Mukesh. The think tank might look to get back Simarjeet and Mustafizur as well.
Middle overs
Switching attention to the middle-overs phase, Shivam Dube and Gaiwkad mostly carried the unit in the last season. In 14 matches, the all-rounder smoked 396 runs at an impressive strike rate of 162.30. Moreover, his ability to take down spinners in the middle order assisted CSK in aggregating 1288 runs at a strike rate of 139.39. However, in a season that saw a plethora of runs being scored across maximum venues, CSK is one of the two sides to extract runs at the rate of 1.5 runs per ball, which sounds below par compared to other teams. The numbers still look decent due to Dube’s exploit in the middle order and Gaikwad mustering 583 runs at a 53.00 average. To resolve the issue, CSK have released Daryl Mitchell, Sameer Rizvi, and Rahane for expectations to rope in someone better. To fill the void of a no. 3, they could eye players among Manish Pandey, Devdutt Padikkal, Rahul Tripathi, Nitish Rana, and Venkatesh Iyer.
If there was one arena where CSK was above par, it has to be their middle-overs phase bowling. Ravindra Jadeja was a pivotal figure with Moeen Ali, Rachin Ravindra, and Maheesh Theekshana complementing. Although they didn’t pick a lot of wickets, the bowlers conceded runs at an economy of 8.42, which is by far the best in the tournament in this particular phase. As Jadeja is their only retention from this group, CSK will have to look for similar options who could curb the run rate in the middle overs phase and take ample wickets to put the opposition on the back foot. Along these lines, they might require an all-rounder and a third or fourth-change bowlers. Given their low budget, the likes of Ravichandran Ashwin, R Sai Kishore, Sam Curran, Romario Shepherd, or Suryansh Shegde could be useful options. It could mean the homecoming for the former three while the latter is a young Maharashtra all-rounder in whom the franchise can invest in long-term potential.
Death
A close look at CSK’s batting numbers would reveal they actually did well in this phase. Their wickets per innings rate in this period reads 1.7 which is the best among all franchises. They had a strike rate of 180.41, the third-best after Royal Challengers Bengaluru and Kolkata Knight Riders. Thanks to Dube and Dhoni’s exploits lower down the order. While their lower order seems quite intact after the retentions of Jadeja, Dhoni, and Dube, they would look to further bolster this department, keeping in mind, that the wicketkeeper-batter is a part-timer. So, who could be their prime targets? It would not be bad of CSK to invest in West Indies all-rounder Romario Shepherd who had little chance to showcase his calibre for the Mumbai Indians in IPL 2024. Marcus Stoinis, Sam Curran, or Liam Livingstone could be other interesting choices.
Like their impressive numbers in batting at the death, CSK was decent with the white cherry in this phase. With Pathirana spearheading the attack. they picked up wickets on every 13 balls in this particular period. However, their economy suffered, reading 10.59. But it is worth arguing that the bowlers took a toll in the previous editions due to the batting-friendly nature of most pitches as CSK’s economy at the death might look bad on paper, but it is the third-best among all teams. Irrespective of the situation, the franchise would also have to keep Pathirana’s injury concerns in mind and get an adequate backup who could fulfill this tough role. The addition of old ball experts in Nathan Ellis or bringing back Mustafizur could improve their pace department for the slog overs. If the think tank wishes to explore Indian options, Mukesh Kumar, Rasikh Salem, Mohit Sharma, and Kuldeep Sen could be some valuable picks under smart budget picks.
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