PRE MATCH ANALYSIS
Follow UsThat time of the year again!
The Indian Summer when everything seems a touch embellished with sweat.
It is that time of the year when mangoes flood the market, raising the consumption level to a new high each time. It is also that time of the year when people ditch their evening dose of Filter Kapi to settle down in front of their TV or mobile screen to consume something more intrinsic to their lives. After all, it is the time of the IPL.
In March 2020 when the pandemic hit the world, it was the IPL that was the biggest hit. The ecosystem was challenged. As the BCCI planned and eventually brought the tournament back to India in 2021, it had to be stopped again within a month before the pandemic took its worst-ever avatar in April 2021. Even though we are in a better time now, the memories never fail to remind its hair-raising tale.
The moment Kolkata Knight Riders and Chennai Super Kings would walk into the field on Saturday for the toss of the opening encounter, it would signal a fresh start and more for the league’s history. Not least, it would be a new beginning for the second-most successful IPL franchises of all time as well, with Ravindra Jadeja taking over the captaincy baton from MS Dhoni, the four-time IPL winner.
In a broader sense, the fans will be back at the venues, two new teams added to the roster and one of India’s most popular and homegrown brands is now the title sponsor - everything seems to be falling into place for the Brand IPL. And when CSK and KKR take the field, they would know the sub-plots will drive the story as much as the real cricket on show. That leverage is the brief interlude to the fulcrum of Brand IPL in which teams would want to script their journey in the next two months.
The passing of the CSK baton
It never seemed more apt, but for Dhoni to give up captaincy just a day before the IPL to begin, passing the baton to Ravindra Jadeja came as a real surprise. For CSK threw unconditional support behind their talismanic skipper to continue for as long as he wanted, it seemed Dhoni would be at the helm of the affairs at least till the end of the season. However, this is classic Dhoni and one could never really guess the choice.
Dhoni’s impact on the CSK stable is unparalleled as a skipper and it would be difficult for anyone to emulate the same kind of success. Especially for someone like Ravindra Jadeja, who has never led a side even domestically, it would be a challenge that can test him to limits. But unlike other franchises, he will have Dhoni alongside him, and the mutual respect that the duo shares is worth it at many levels.
Batting, bowling, and fielding-wise, Jadeja has made himself an indispensable unit in the CSK cog and one of the most valuable players in the entire structure. His ability to transform the game single-handedly is a massive positive, which in reality, he would need more than the captaincy nous. And honestly, CSK need that too, knowing MSD can take care of other aspects from behind the scenes.
"Jaddu has the potential to do well for the franchise," CSK CEO Kasi Viswanathan told ESPNCricinfo. "[He is a] good all-round cricketer, playing his best, he can get the team around. And MS' guidance will always be there. This will be a good induction programme."
How will CSK cope without Chahar?
Undoubtedly Chahar is one of the most crucial pieces in the CSK jigsaw puzzle and is central to Dhoni’s plans to dominate the teams in the first six overs of the innings. Since his IPL debut in 2016, no bowler has had more wickets than the Rajasthan pacer in the powerplay or has more breakthroughs in the first over of the innings in the IPL. Second-placed Sandeep Sharma has bagged 14 wickets lesser despite playing five more games. If that is not enough to convince you of his impact, Chahar has 72.88% of his overall wickets in the first six overs, the most among bowlers who have bagged more than 50 wickets overall in the history of IPL.
And hence, the news of him missing a substantial part of the league phase is a huge blow for the franchise, which doesn’t really have an impactful Indian option to cover for Chahar. There are Tushar Deshpande and KM Asif - both of them have previously played in the IPL but to moderate success. If CSK are forced to play two overseas pacers in Adam Milne and Chris Jordan, it would grossly impact the team dynamics, regressing the all-round impact Bravo may have for them.
One can’t say for sure, but this may come down to haunt the defending champions, especially knowing the flatbeds Mumbai is going to offer in the IPL 2022. Barring a game in IPL 2020, CSK never had to face such a conundrum of playing without Chahar and one might consider that it is an overestimation of his quality, but CSK’s success is largely down to how he held the pieces together to break the opposition back in the powerplay. That lack of comfort would be a huge detriment when the Men in Yellow would take the field against Kolkata Knight Riders on March 26.
The question of KKR make-up
In 2021 IPL, Kolkata staged an epic turnaround by winning almost all games in the second leg to reach the final before CSK buried them in a classic CSK approach. While letting go of some laggards seemed like a step in the right direction, Kolkata were largely unimpressive in their auction strategy. After spending a huge chunk on Shreyas Iyer, they had to scamper to assemble a squad. It led to a situation where they had to be bailed out by the availability of Alex Hales in the auction, only to see the English opener deserting them citing bubble fatigue.
Hales could have brought a completely different dynamic to the team and ensured the anchor-heavy squad don’t face the Punjab Kings-shaped frailties but now they will have to rely on Aaron Finch, who for all his brilliance on the international stage, hasn’t really lit up the IPL stage on fire. They will have to rely heavily on Shreyas Iyer, Venkatesh Iyer, and Nitish Rana but the lack of power-hitter against pace would be an issue. They all, however, are very good against spin bowling.
The absence of Pat Cummins for the first four games has further thrown a spanner in KKR’s works. While Andre Russell holds a solid proposition, Cummins’ impact in the last two seasons were visible, and that would add some extra burden on Umesh Yadav in the powerplay despite knowing the Vidarbha speedster hasn’t been at his best in the shortest format of the game lately. How KKR manage to navigate through the situations and form a solid strategy would dictate the course of their journey this year.
Probable XIs:
Chennai Super Kings: Ruturaj Gaikwad, Devon Conway, Robin Uthappa, Ambati Rayudu, MS Dhoni, Ravindra Jadeja ©, Shivam Dube, Dwayne Bravo, Chris Jordan, Rajvardhan Hangargekar, Adam Milne
Kolkata Knight Riders: Venkatesh Iyer, Aaron Finch, Shreyas Iyer (capt), Nitish Rana, Sheldon Jackson, Andre Russell, Sunil Narine, Tim Southee, Shivam Mavi, Umesh Yadav, Varun Chakravarthy
Venue: Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai
Date & Time: Mar 26, 07:30 PM IST
