Heartbreak season for the defending champions?

As Chennai Super Kings embark on their flight to Jaipur from Mumbai, they would realize that the team has to do to the impossible. The team which has gelled has a cohesive unit over four years now, is in familiar territory once again. On most occasions in the previous editions of the Indian Premier League, they have conquered the mighty impossible.

But this season looks so different from others.

With the way the season has panned out for the defending champions, it looks like this could be their “heart break” season in IPL history. The team has managed to reach the play offs / knock out stages every single time. However it doesn’t look like they would end up in the final four this season.

Inconsistent performance

Every time the team has won a game this season, they’ve lost the subsequent game. This has been the trend this year for the defending champions. While the converse could be a subject of relief that they’re not losing successive games and more importantly that a win is round the corner, CSK are in a position from where they cannot afford to lose even a single game. This inconsistency is the most worrisome factor among other issues.

This season the team has not won more than two games in a row, which is appalling to say the least; it is very unlike Chennai Super Kings.

Slow Starters

It has taken close to 11 games for the defending champions to sort their batting order. The form of the Indian batsmen has also been a point of worry throughout the season. Suresh Raina, the team’s mainstay, was out of touch. Raina couldn’t find the flow for quite a long time.

The success of Indian players in the CSK ranks was one of the important reasons for all the achievements in IPL and CLT20 tournaments. They’ve been consistent as a group until this season. For a major part of this season, they’ve failed as a group. None of the Indian batsmen in the squad has lit up the IPL so far.

Having said that, the only positive is that the batting unit finally looks sorted out. Raina is finally looking like the leading run scorer in the league history now. Murali Vijay, after a horrendous count of low scores, looks hungry for runs now. The fluency and the freedom with which he has approached both games against Deccan Chargers and Mumbai Indians, shows a lot of promise.

But has this intent come a little too late? RCB, Rajasthan Royals and Kings XI Punjab are breathing down the neck with some quality performances time and again.

Strategically too, they had messed up with the way Dhoni used Albie Morkel – the batsman. Jadeja’s inclusion in the team is the only major difference from the side that featured last season. Dhoni tried his best to give him the best batting slot in the team in the first 10 games. However, it looks like Bravo and Morkel are sure to bat ahead of Jadeja in the remaining matches.

Where is the aggression?

If anything, the team has lacked the aggressive display right through the season. This team’s strengths lie with (a) their batsmen, (b) their spinners and (c) fielding. CSK have the longest and the strongest batting order among all IPL teams. In fact, I don’t think there is a stronger batting order than CSK in any T20 team around the world.

With so much of firepower in their arsenal, it has been shocking to see the way they have utilized it this season. It has been sedate for most parts of the season while on other occasions, has flattered only to deceive.

Dhoni has been uncharacteristically slow and nobody apart from Faf du Plessis has tried to play on top gear. Murali Vijay, to an extent, showed the way against Mumbai Indians yesterday. Apart from a couple of knocks, it has been largely defensive mindset from other batsmen in yellow jersey.

The moment the batsmen play with freedom, the aggressive spirit will fall into place, thus making the team a fearsome unit. Albie Morkel has also acknowledged this aspect of CSK’s game.

The bowlers have been largely impressive. Even though they’ve had a low score on scoreboard increasing the pressure, they have managed to take few games to the end. R. Ashwin has not picked as many wickets as his captain and the Indian selectors would have liked to see. However, he has still managed to control the runs and at times got good turn off the surfaces he has played on.

Bizarre playing strip

The pitch at Chepauk has been a major point of concern for the home side. While they lost very badly in Champions League last year due to the re-laid 22-yard strip, the fortress in Chepauk has been breached three times so far because of the same reason.

Dhoni has cried aloud saying that this wicket isn’t conducive for his stroke makers to make merry. But nothing seems to change much in reality. Even the spinners would love to have a pitch with extra bounce and pace which gives them the opportunity to pick wickets.

Losing at home

Historically, teams which emerge as strong sides are almost always unbeatable at home. Super Kings had an unbeaten home run last season, thus ending up winning the title comfortably. This year though, they’ve already lost to Mumbai Indians, Kings XI Punjab and Kolkata Knight Riders at home.

Two of those three losses might as well come back to haunt the Super Kings if they don’t reach the final play-offs. It might still haunt them even if they reach the play-offs. It robs a certain luxury of finishing in the top two also. 4 points at this stage is like premium gold.

The slip up against the teams from Punjab and Kolkata has meant that the pressure to win away has increased manifold. Super Kings are traditionally a team that hasn’t done really well away from Chennai. They win games occasionally away from Chennai but not on a regular basis.

Losing tight games

The loss in Wankhede yesterday was a heart-breaker to say the least. CSK have traditionally won such tight games very regularly and such games have helped them become stronger and successful as a team. But now, they’re on the receiving end in such matches.

This is a trait that is spotted with Mumbai Indians these days. While some might call it “lucky”, I would prefer it to give it to Mumbai for the nerves of steel they’ve displayed time and again this season.

What lies ahead

While the batting for Super Kings looks almost settled, the bowling would probably call up for a change with Hilfenhaus giving way to Sri Lankan pacer Nuwan Kulasekara. Kulasekara has performed exceedingly well in conditions which are very familiar to him. He has gone without a wicket in only 1 of his 4 IPL games this season. In addition to that, his economy rate deserves a special mention. His ability to swing the new ball both ways, ability to bowl yorkers and slower deliveries consistently and the ability to hit the ball a long way should find him a place ahead of Hilfenhaus for the rest of the games.

Kulasekara probably lacks in a bit of pace when compared with Hilfenhaus. But his overall ability to vary the length and pace should earn him a spot in the XI, especially against Royals in Jaipur, Delhi in Chennai and Knight Riders in Eden Gardens. All these surfaces are much slower than what we got in Mumbai and someone like Kulasekara might be the right foil in the mix for the Super Kings.

The Hilfenhaus-Kulasekara swap could resolve a small issue. However, this team is now facing a mountain to climb. If they have any dreams to defend their title, they have to get their act together and most importantly, cannot afford to slip at any point of time in the next 3 weeks. That however, looks improbable to happen.

A new champion is surely waiting to be crowned this year.