Chennai Super Kings: A second shot at a fitting epilogue?

Outlook

Without intending any puns, it must be said that Chennai Super Kings appeared to age significantly through the course of last year's IPL. Doubts regarding their ability to challenge for top honours date back to 2018, but they responded with a title win in MS Dhoni's best season, and followed it with a final appearance in 2019. But, 2020 felt different.

They just about avoided the embarrassing wooden spoon and disintegrated beyond recognition to bring up one of the most anticlimactic epilogues to a run full of success, drama and unexpected revivals. For a side that's perhaps looking forward to the big auctions and a complete reset more than most others, the addition of a fourth year to the cycle provides a rare chance to alter the narrative one last time.

The return of Suresh Raina, and a few auction additions hardly seem enough for CSK to embark on the journey of a complete turnaround just six months after their sustained struggle. But as the ongoing cycle suggests, cricketing wisdom sometimes perishes at the doorsteps of this franchise.

Where have they finished in this cycle?

2018: Champions || 2019: Runners-up || 2020: 7th

Last season bugbear

"Too many holes in the ship and when you try to plug one, there is water flowing from another," MS Dhoni quipped, with a smile that conveyed helplessness and became symbolic of CSK's perennial troubles throughout IPL 2020 as his team just couldn't get out of a never-experienced-before rut.

Two such gaping holes were batting timidity and spin ineffectiveness.

CSK were the second slowest in the PowerPlay (strike rate of 7.13) and the middle-overs (strike rate of 7.40). Conservative starts have been part of their success blueprint before but the messed up approach through the middle combined with Dhoni's worst season with the bat left them well short of targets and competent first-innings scores on most occasions.

The spin department went from picking 62 wickets - an IPL record - in 2019 to managing just 20 last season. Worse still, they did not have a single finger spinner in their ranks for variety and ended up leaking runs at an economy of 8.51 - their worst performance in the tournament's history.

Has it been fixed ahead of IPL 2021?

CSK appear to be looking at a two-fold solution for their slow starts with the bat. One could be to throw Robin Uthappa in with the instructions of maximising the PowerPlay overs, before a fluid middle-order of Faf du Plessis, Suresh Raina and MS Dhoni takes over.

The other and bigger punt could be the use of Moeen Ali - secured for 7 Cr - as an opener to give CSK a sprint in the PowerPlay, or at the very least as a situation-based floater up the order.

As an offspinner, Moeen also brings much-needed versatility to CSK's spin bowling. The expensive acquisition of Krishnappa Gowtham for INR 9.25 Cr gives the team the flexibility of a like-for-like replacement for Moeen should they alter their plans for overseas picks.

Tactics Watch

CSK have put a lot of their eggs in the spinning-all rounders' basket. They went as far as 14 Cr for Glenn Maxwell before RCB secured his services with the next bid (14.25 Cr), and then fought off Punjab Kings to rope in Moeen Ali. They also overcame a four-way fight to prise away Krishnappa Gowtham.

These two headline signings give MS Dhoni what he likes, and what he missed last year - more spin bowling options to play around with. Moeen's inclusion also adds a crucial explosive dimension to a passive batting line-up that was often guilty of being fatally one-tone last season.

League phase venue split

Mumbai (5) || New Delhi (4) || Bengaluru (3) || Kolkata (2)

The eight games in Mumbai and Bengaluru come as the biggest concern for a team tailor-made for turning pitches, like the one at home in Chennai. It's a particularly tough start, with the first five matches at Wankhede where teams have enjoyed scoring big and hardly relying on spinners.

The last five games - on the true surfaces of Chinnaswamy and Eden Gardens - may also push this otherwise conservative and calculating side to play out of their skins.

Uncapped player Watch

Ruturaj Gaikwad grappled with the coronavirus and its aftereffects for the majority of IPL 2020. But even this dark, unending metaphorical tunnel had light waiting for him at the other end as he finished the season with Stephen Fleming singing his praises and worrying that a big auction might take him away. Since that didn't happen, a full season of IPL for CSK awaits. But it comes with two caveats.

First, to set the tone for the team while they're still in competition, which wasn't the case by the time he got back-to-back opportunities in 2020. And second, to get over the form he arrives in after ordinary performances in the two domestic white-ball tournaments - Vijay Hazare and Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy. A run of games as a reward for his end of last season returns could yet help recapture his form.

Likely best XI

Ruturaj Gaikwad, Robin Uthappa/Ambati Rayudu, Faf du Plessis, Suresh Raina, Sam Curran, MS Dhoni (C, Wk), Moeen Ali, Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Deepak Chahar, Imran Tahir