IPL 2019: 3 Changes that Chennai Super Kings should make for the match against Sunrisers Hyderabad

Dhoni's big effort in vain at Bangalore(Image Courtesy: IPL T20.com/BCCI)

It was a nail-biting finish at Bangalore in the match between CSK and RCB on Sunday night. After witnessing 320 runs being scored in 40 overs, only one run separated the winner from the loser.

Unfortunately, for CSK they were at the wrong end of the result for the first time this year in a match which went to the last over. In the end, CSK Captain’s highest score in IPL was not good enough to earn his team a win. So much damage was done in the powerplay due to some exceptional bowling from RCB and poor shot selection from the CSK batsmen.

Of the first 4 wickets that fell in the power play, only Suresh Raina got an unplayable delivery while both Faf du Plessis and Kedar Jadhav got out to irresponsible shots off similar deliveries.

A thought, in the beginning, was that it was du Plessis’ lucky day when a Jaffa from Umesh Yadav kissed the off stump and went through without disturbing the bails. In the final analysis, that incident turned out to be the turning point in favour of RCB as Faf went on to waste 5 more deliveries before losing his wicket without adding a run.

In the end, like always, it was left to superman Dhoni to score all the runs without losing his wicket. The pressure was too much even for a finisher like Dhoni as he made some tactical errors in refusing 3 singles with big-hitter Bravo at the other end.

RCB has managed to win by the narrowest of margin after 7 consecutive losses against CSK. It seems the Law of Averages on head-to-head dominance has finally caught up with CSK both against RCB and against SRH in the previous match.

But the one run win has kept RCB’s hopes alive in the tournament. That has made the dynamics of the standings of the teams more exciting with all teams in with a chance to make it to the playoffs both mathematically and otherwise.

After being on the road for 4 matches, CSK will be happy to be back at Chepauk for their next 3 matches. Their next match is against SRH on Tuesday, the 23rd April’2019.

After two successive defeats, a first time happening for CSK after their return in 2018, a minimum of 3 changes will have to be made in the team composition for the match against SRH.

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#3 Murali Vijay for Kedar Jadhav

Murali Vijay - A prolific scorer for CSK in the past(Image courtesy: IPL T20.com/BCCI)

Kedar Jadhav has managed to play all the 10 matches for CSK with a below-par performance of 145 runs at a strike rate of 99. In 6 of the 9 innings, Kedar has faced less than 13 balls.

More than his dismissals, it is the manner of his dismissals that have been shocking. He was somewhat casual in his approach and his continuous failures have put huge pressure on MS. Dhoni.

For CSK, apart from Dhoni (314) and Suresh Raina (207), none of the other batsmen have crossed the 200 mark this year after playing in 10 matches. Every time it was left to Dhoni and the bowlers to redeem the team's fortune.

It is time now for CSK to replace Kedar Jadhav with Murali Vijay. Vijay should relish the opportunity of playing his first 3 matches at home. That should also allow him to come back to form before the tournament enters a crucial phase. Vijay has proved in the past that he can be a match-winner in T20 cricket when in form.

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#2 Mitchell Santner for Shane Watson

Santner has already won a match for CSK (Image courtesy: IPL T20.com/BCCI)

Shane Watson has been a big failure in this year’s edition of the IPL having managed to score only 147 runs in 10 innings. He is yet to score a half-century this year. The CSK team management has shown confidence in Watson with the hope that a match-winning inning is around the corner. But there is no such indication of that happening in the near future.

CSK’s opening partnership for this season reads a wretched 8,21,1,1,56,18,0,29,79 and 6. Out of the 10 matches so far, Watson was the first wicket to fall on 7 occasions. CSK has all along been carrying Watson when they were on a winning spree. Now after the two successive defeats, Shane Watson needs to go.

His place should be taken up by Mitchell Santner who has already won a match for CSK against RR. Santner’s off-spinners should suit the Chepauk wicket and he is no mug with the bat either.

It is interesting to note that Dhoni has been forced to manage with 5 bowlers in 8 out of the 10 matches. Santner could be the solution to plug the bowling weaknesses of this team.

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#1 Harbhajan Singh for Shardul Thakur

Harbhajan had 2 Player of the Match awards in 4 matches(Image courtesy: IPL T20.com/BCCI)

Shardul Thakur has given away 231 runs in 25 overs for 6 wickets in this year’s IPL. Thakur went wicketless in 4 of the 7 matches that he has played this season.

On the other hand, Harbhajan has better figures of 16-1-82-7. He got the Player of the Match award in 2 of the 4 matches he has played this year.

He can be pitted against David Warner at the start of the innings. If Harbhajan could manage to remove Warner, it is half the battle won, the other half being Warner’s opening partner Jonny Bairstow.

The absence of left-hand batsmen other than Warner in the SRH line up doesn’t warrant Harbhajan’s exclusion. He has been equally successful against right-handers, Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers.

By selecting Harbhajan in place of Thakur, CSK will have four quality spin options on a helpful Chepauk wicket. Besides, Harbhajan’s presence is vital for CSK at the fag end of the tournament on weary wickets.

Chennai Super Kings Playing XI

Murali Vijay, Faf de Plessis, Suresh Raina, Ambati Rayadu, MS Dhoni, Ravindra Jadeja, Dwayne Bravo, Mitchell Santner, Deepak Chahar, Harbhajan Singh, Imran Tahir