IPL 2019: SWOT analysis of the Chennai Super Kings squad

The story of the defending champions Chennai Super Kings is no less than a Bollywood story with a happy ending.

The franchise was suspended for two seasons, and when the team came back their home ground was taken away from them. In the 2018 season they were playing at a place which was actually neutral for both the teams.

However, despite all the problems and consequences, CSK didn't lose hope as they went on to win their third title.

The expectations from IPL 2019 are, again, really high. Every Chennai fan wants their team to defend the title, and would want them to fill all the gaps in the squad.

On that note, here is a look at the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats for CSK this season.

Strengths

MS Dhoni

The biggest strength of CSK is that they have a great captain in MS Dhoni. Dhoni has the ability to bring the best out of any player. Moreover, he is always spot-on with his on-field decisions; his brilliant captaincy is the reason that CSK have won the prestigious IPL trophy thrice.

The second positive for CSK is that they will be playing at their original home ground i.e. M.A. Chidambaram stadium or 'Chepauk'. Last season they were forced to play at the Maharashtra Cricket Association (MCA), Pune, but this time they will have home advantage again.

The third strength of the yellow brigade is that they have huge fan support. Former Indian player Aakash Chopra once said the CSK fans are so passionate that even if Chennai plays at the moon then, their fans would somehow manage to reach the only natural satellite of the earth.

Weaknesses

Suresh Raina is IPL's leading run-getter

There is no obvious weakness in this star-stunned side. The only area of concern is that it's a relatively old team, where the average age is 30 years.

However, every coin is two-sided. In this case, one side shows age, and the other side shows experience. And it's the experience of the team that helped it in the 2018 season.

The second thing that can stop CSK from defending their title is that many of their players have not been playing regular cricket.

Suresh Raina, for example, last played international cricket in 2018. There is a chance that he may be rusty in the first few matches of the tournament. If one or more of the players take time to settle in, it might leave CSK with too much to do in the second half of the season.

Opportunities

Ambati Rayudu

Playing for the CSK franchise is itself a big opportunity. And this time around, with the World Cup coming up, many players will be looking to use the IPL as a platform to confirm their tickets to England.

Ambati Rayudu, who made a comeback to the Indian team owing to a great 2018 IPL season, will be keen to repeat his performance and book a spot in the Indian World Cup squad.

Just like his fellow mate, Ravindra Jadeja is also sailing in the same boat as his decent performances against the Aussies have increased his chances of making it to the World Cup. A great IPL season could see him going to England too.

Apart from Rayudu and Jadeja, other players like Deepak Chahar and Lungi Ngidi will also be eager to make the most of this opportunity.

Threats

Lakshmipati Balaji (left) is the present bowling coach of CSK

There is only one threat to the Dhoni-led team, which is that they have too many bowling options. At times, a problem of plenty can be harmful.

Suresh Raina, Kedar Jadhav, Shane Watson, Dwayne Bravo, Harbhajan Singh - the list of players who can bowl is quite long. The problem of having so many options is that you don't exactly know which bowler should bowl when; because of that, you are not able to give your best bowler his full quota of overs.

However, CSK fans can still rest easy because they have Dhoni as their captain. As mentioned earlier, Dhoni is a phenomenal captain and if he chooses the right bowler at the right time then the chances of this threat hurting the CSK team is very low.