IPL 2020(Part 4- CSK and KXIP): A New Season, Strength and weaknesses of teams, their playing 11 and much more

IPL 2020: CSK and KXIP

Welcome to the Part-4 of the IPL 2020 series. In the previous part, we analyzed the strengths and weaknesses and playing 11 of both Kolkata Knight Riders and Delhi Capitals. Hope you enjoyed the part-3 of this series. Let’s get into the part-4.

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CHENNAI SUPER KINGS

Chennai Super Kings is one of the greatest teams in the IPL history also one of the greatest cricket clubs in the world, is known for their achievements they’ve achieved so far. They have won 3 IPL titles, 2 CLT20 titles, and 6 Fairplay awards so far. Many well-known players played for this club, but this team is known for their captain MSD, who has to lead the team right from the 1st season of IPL till now.

CSK has never failed to qualify for the playoffs. CSK has second-highest wins in IPL history second best to their arch-rivals MI but they have the highest win percentage than MI. A lot of emotions come out from their fans as their two leading players have retired recently.

Top Order

My opening pair for CSK will be Shane Watson and Ambati Rayudu. This pair has been a backbone for CSK’s victorious run in IPL 2018. Shane Watson scored 555 runs and took 6 wickets along with Ambati Rayudu who scored 602 runs for CSK in IPL 2018.

In the previous season, they weren’t among the runs, so it made the captain make Faf du Plessis open the innings for CSK. Faf can also open the innings but as for now, I think it’s better to play with an Indian opener as they can use a pacer in the overseas slot to strengthen their bowling attack.

The no.3 for CSK will always be their one and only Suresh Raina. Raina who has retired recently is fondly called “Chinna Thala” by their fans is known for his consistency in his entire IPL career. Though he wasn’t amongst the runs in recent times, he will be the no.3 for CSK at any cause.

Middle and lower-middle order:

My No.4 for CSK will be Kedar Jadhav. This Indian batsman is a good player of spin, and can come handy with the ball with round arm action. Playing for CSK he hasn’t played good for his team, except his one notable knock against MI sustaining with a hamstring injury.

My No.5 for CSK will be their captain, MS Dhoni. Playing at no.5, one should know how to finish games, and as well as if the top order fails, the No. 5 batsmen should play responsibly. Dhoni is a master in both of the roles. So he will be a perfect No.5 for CSK. This wicket-keeper batsman has played a ton number of innings for CSK and helped cross the finish line.

My No.6 and No.7 will be Ravindra Jadeja and Dwayne Bravo. These two all-rounders are handy both with bat and ball. These two can support Dhoni to finish the innings as well. Jadeja will be helpful for CSK in the dry UAE conditions as well as Bravo’s slower ones.

Bowlers:

CSK has a good bowling attack with a heavy spin-attack and a decent pace-attack. Deepak Chahar will be their front-line pacer. He will bowl with the new ball and swings it in and out of the batsman.

Their second pacer will be among Sam Curran, Lungi Ngidi, and Josh Hazlewood. They will go for Sam Curran if they need a left-arm pacer and also Curran is a good batsman who will be handy lower down the order. It should be wise to choose one of the three.

Imran Tahir will be my second spinner. He has played a vital role in CSK’s success for the past two years. This leggie is a goto bowler MS at crunch situations. My other bowler will depend on the conditions, if they play in seaming conditions, I would go for Shardul Thakur or if it is a spin-track, I would choose between Chawla or Harbhajan.

Strengths and weaknesses:

CSK’s strength has always been its captain MS Dhoni. His mastermind tricks will be handy for them at any part of the play. Another strength for them is their spin attack. Last season many teams struggled to play against their spinners. While this year’s IPL is going to be played in UAE, obviously spinners will come into play.

Their weakness will be their death-bowling and their top-order batsman. Both failed to improve in the last season of IPL. Their death bowling is a serious concern. They have added some pacers to their attack this season, so hoping for good bowling towards their end.

My playing 11 for CSK:

Shane Watson, Ambati Rayudu, Suresh Raina, K Jadhav, MS Dhoni(c)(wk), D Bravo, R Jadeja, Sam Curran/Ngidi/Hazlewood, D Chahar, S Thakur/Chawla/ Harbhajan, I Tahir

Kings XI Punjab

Kings XI Punjab will be lead by their young captain, hoping for a good season this year. This team has never come with the same team, each year they will bring changes in their team. They haven’t had a huge success and never won the IPL title, but played some good cricket here and there. Their one notable season is in 2014, where they reached the finals and lost to KKR. In that season, Glenn Maxwell played a huge role for KXIP’s success and he’s part of this team too.

Top Order:

KXIP has one of the best opening pair in this tournament. Kl Rahul and Chris Gayle- what a pair it is! Gayle towards the twilight of his career, expected to play some good innings for his fans. Kl Rahul with his recent form, will be a blitzkrieg kind of attack if Gayle too comes into attacking zone.

My no.3 for them will be Mayank Agarwal. Agarwal is a good player of both spin and pace. He can be crucial for Punjab’s success by anchoring the innings, while the others can play their aggressive role.

Middle and Lower-middle order:

Glenn Maxwell will be their no. 4. This aggressive batsman was away from cricket to improve his mental stability is expected to comeback in this IPL. He has to play responsibly in the middle-order or else the teams middle order will be brittle. So Maxwell will be crucial for their middle-order’s success.

Their 5, 6, and 7 will be Mandeep Singh, Deepak Hooda, and Krishnappa Gowtham. These three will be helpful in UAE conditions as they can play spin and bowl too(Hooda and Gowtham).

Nicholas Pooran also can play in their middle-order, if their Indian Bowlers are strong enough to play in the 11 so that they can go for a batsman in the overseas slot but they obviously need two bowlers from the overseas slot to strengthen their attack.

Bowlers:

M Shami will lead their pace attack. Shami has come a long way in his career and he will be vital for their bowling attack. Sheldon Cottrell will be their second pacer. They have many overseas pacers to choose from. Their third pacer will be a young-Indian pacer for sure. Mujeeb-ur-Rahman will lead their spin-attack. This young Afghan is known for his unpredictability.

Strengths and weaknesses:

Their strengths is their aggressive batting and their overseas slot is strong enough to play in the 11. Their weakness is their captain is inexperienced and young. He is expected to lead the team from the front by his batting. Other than the overseas players, the Indian players are young and inexperienced.

My playing 11 for KXIP:

Kl Rahul(c)(wk), C Gayle, M Agarwal, G Maxwell, Mandeep Singh/ N Pooran, D Hooda, K Gowtham, Mujeeb-ur-Rahman/J Suchith, M Shami, S Cottrell, Ishan Porel/ Arshdeep Singh.

They can also try Jimmy Neesham, if they need an allrounder.

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