IPL 2018: 5 areas of concern that Chennai Superkings needs to overcome to win against Royal Challengers Bangalore

#4 Avoid the middle-overs rut

Even Dhoni and Rayudu couldn't accelerate in middle overs against KKR

It’s now two games when Chennai have lost the game because of their shabby batting efforts in the middle phase of the innings i.e. overs no. 10 to 15.

This five-over period is quite crucial as teams gather momentum for their deadly assaults in these overs and regular fall of wickets in these overs can seriously hamper the chances of a big finish.

That is what exactly happened with CSK in their defeats against Mumbai and Kolkata. While they could only manage 26 runs for the loss of one wicket in that period against Mumbai, their fate was much worse against Kolkata where they lost three important wickets while accumulating just 31 runs.

Clearly, they need to avoid this middle phase rut against Royal Challengers Bangalore who have the likes of Virat Kohli, AB de Villiers and Brendon McCullum in their ranks.

These are the players for whom you really need a big total on board to give your bowlers a chance of winning the match for you.

Considering the recent bowling woes of CSK, it is all the more important to make optimum utilisation of these middle overs to give momentum to the innings.