IPL 2019: Do Chennai Super Kings need an extra batsman in the XI?

IPL 2019 was set to begin with a marquee clash between the defending champions, Chennai Super Kings, and one of the most entertaining-yet-underachieving teams, Royal Challengers Bangalore.

However, much to everyone’s disappointment, the pitch was slow and low, with plenty of assistance for the spinners. The sluggishness of the pitch combined with some poor shot selection by the RCB batsmen led to a dull start to the season.

But that doesn't take anything away from CSK's performance. They were clinical and had started from where they had left off the previous season.

The second game for the MS Dhoni-led team saw them play on yet another slowish track at Kotla, and CSK managed to close out the game quite easily.

The third game against Rajasthan saw CSK bounce back twice, once with the bat and later with the ball. The win came with Dwayne Bravo’s terrific death bowling after Ben Stokes and Jofra Archer gave them a little scare, and it took them to the top of the IPL points table.

The team combination for CSK in all three games did not raise any question, as the XI was well-suited for such tracks. Moreover, the wins were so clinical that the need to look at the combination did not even arise.

Then came the game against arch-rivals Mumbai Indians. After a superb start with the ball and a decent middle overs phase, CSK’s death bowling weakness came to the fore as Hardik Pandya and Kieron Pollard added 46 runs in the last two overs, which included a 29-run last over.

Where did it go wrong?

Chasing a target of 171, CSK needed a good start from their openers. But Ambati Rayudu’s poor run and Shane Watson’s soft dismissal put the onus on the middle order. Suresh Raina then fell to a blinder by Pollard and CSK were in a spot of bother for the first time during a chase this season.

This led to the sudden realization that the batsmen to follow were Bravo and Ravindra Jadeja, the former not having any notable performances to his name for a while and the latter not being the force in T20 cricket he once was with the bat.

The lack of reliability below number five made Kedar Jadhav curb his natural game and play to the situation. Dhoni playing out time and taking the game deep was nothing new, but this time the batsman at the other end was also going the same way, courtesy the lack of options lower down the order.

This approach has been successful for Dhoni and CSK countless times before. The main strategy for in such chases is to negate the major wicket-taking threats and attack the other ones to the fullest.

However, considering the fact that Mumbai Indians had two very reliable and in-form death bowlers in Jasprit Bumrah and Lasith Malinga, this approach was not going to be easy. Moreover, along with some superb middle overs bowling by MI, it was CSK’s tied hands that prevented them from going for the kill and taking some risks.

With the required rate going above 14 in the last six overs, Dhoni perished, trying to go after Pandya. Jadhav too could not get going and as a result the assault never really started.

A few hits by Shardul Thakur in the last over only narrowed the margin of the loss. The intent was clearly missing and much of that was due to the team combination, which did not let Dhoni and Jadhav play with enough freedom.

What is the way ahead?

Rayudu’s miserable run at the top is a major concern for the team, more so after the miserable loss against MI. Considering the fact that he is more suited in the middle order, bringing him in at 4 to increase the batting depth is something the management needs to give serious thought to.

Faf du Plessis or Sam Billings can be sent to open, and Rayudu can be a floater in the middle order.

Bringing an extra batsman would mean dropping a bowler. But considering the fact that CSK already have more than seven bowling options gives them the freedom do so. In that case, the playing XI will be as follows:

Shane Watson, Faf du Plessis / Sam Billings, Suresh Raina, Ambati Rayudu, MS Dhoni, Kedar Jadhav, Dwayne Bravo, Ravindra Jadeja, Deepak Chahar, Shardul Thakur, Imran Tahir

Faf du Plessis might get a look in to improve batting depth (picture courtesy: BCCI/iplt20.com)

But this combination will make Dhoni move out of his comfort zone and will give him less liberty in rotating his bowlers.

Another option is to drop Rayudu for Du Plessis or Billings and/or bring in Karn Sharma in place of a bowler. Karn’s big hitting prowess along with his wrist spin will give the middle order more freedom, and the addition of Du Plessis / Billings will add firepower at the top.

In that case the XI will be as follows:

Shane Watson, Faf du Plessis / Sam Billings, Suresh Raina, MS Dhoni, Kedar Jadhav, Dwayne Bravo, Karn Sharma, Ravindra Jadeja, Deepak Chahar, Shardul Thakur, Imran Tahir

In any case, CSK do need an extra batsman to prevent the over-reliance on Dhoni and Jadhav. After all, the impact of the likes of Pandya-Pollard and Russell-Karthik at 6 and 7 is much greater than that created by Bravo and Jadeja in their current form.

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