Hyderabad: God knows what the Chennai Super Kings team eats or how it trains, but there has to be something special for sure. Of the 8 editions of the Indian Premier League played thus far, the Chennai outfit has made it to the finals six times, this edition included. Under the able captaincy of MS Dhoni, this team has scripted miracles and how. Ahead of the finals, here is NewsMobile’s analysis of Chennai and its performance so far.
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Batting
Chennai Super Kings have been attacking both with the bat and the ball. In their encounter against Sunrisers Hyderabad in Chennai, CSK managed to breach the 200 figure mark.
Even otherwise, their batting department has been functioning pretty smoothly with the likes of Smith, Brendon McCullum, Faf du Plessis, Raina and Dhoni firing when needed. Even Bravo has chipped in a couple of times. The best part about their batting attack is the fact that it’s not dependent on a single person, or in other words, it isn’t a one man army.
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Bowling
Their bowling has also been sharp, with the biggest surprise coming in the form of Ashish Nehra, who’s been on fire, playing the match-winning role many-a-time.
Other bowlers who have helped the team sail through are Ashwin, Bravo, who, even though has been pretty expensive, has struck when needed, Ishwar Pandey and even Mohit Sharma.
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Key Players
The key players are obviously no different from the ones mentioned above. There’ll be special focus on McCullum and Smith as a solid opening partnership will lay the foundation for a bigger score for the bowlers to be cushioned with.
In the bowling department, Nehra will be the key man, with assistance for Ashwin. Bravo will be the dark horse, both in the batting and bowling departments.
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Observations
CSK has been performing well, but hasn’t been performing well in the away matches. In a total of 8 ‘away’ matches played, Chennai has lost 8 times.
It’s been in roaring form when it comes to performing in front of the home crowd. Of the 7 matches played at home, CSK has won 6. Incidentally, the only team that managed to beat it on its home turf was Mumbai Indians, who it will meet in the final.
Also, even though the batting department is balanced, the bowling is dependant on a few names. The team has lost if its frontline bowlers haven’t clicked.