By: Tarish Bhatt
Be it in any department, we all know how consistent the Chennai Super Kings are, rarely having a bad day and putting their best foot forward. And, the same happened against the Kolkata Knight Riders at the M.A. Chidambaram Stadium.
With yet another win in the season, the Super Kings have strengthened top-spot in the competition. If the CSK continue playing this way, they might very well become the first team to qualify for the qualifying round.
The win against the Knight Riders was their third in a row, after losing to the Rajasthan Royal. But, the way they have lifted themselves post defeat, defines the character of the side, right from the management to the players.
Chennai has played one-game less than the Royals and yet they have more points and superior net runrate. They are yet to play seven more games, and it might be a touch early to say, but winning third Indian Premier League is very much on the cards for them.
The Super Kings are a very balanced side, right from the openers to the bowlers. They haven’t made many changes in the playing XI, keeping the winning combination, and it has paid rich dividends to the two-time champions.
Brendon McCullum and Dwayne Smith are providing scorching starts, while the middle-order, featuring Suresh Raina, MS Dhoni and Faf du Plessis, is doing a solid work.
The Super Kings arguably is the finest fielding unit in the IPL. Raina, du Plessis, Ravindra Jadeja and McCullum are lightning fast and with players like these they are always cutting down on singles and creating run out opportunities.
Chennai’s bowling is also doing fine, as Ashish Nehra is in form of his life, while Mohit Sharma and Ishwar Pandey are also doing a good job for them. Jadeja and Ravichandran Ashwin are chipping-in with wickets in the middle-overs.
It is very difficult to find a loophole in this team and skipper Dhoni is ensuring that there shouldn’t be any. He has marshalled his troops superbly in the tournament so far, and he might be eying the coveted trophy, after a string of brilliant performances.
