Less than four days ago, Chennai Super Kings was looking comfortable and dominating after it managed to claw its way out of a tough situation against Kolkata Knight Riders in a low-scoring encounter.
However, two defeats in the following matches away from home have taken a sting out of the team’s momentum though it is still at the top of the table with 12 points.
As it returns to home base for three matches, the team will want to win at least two matches to seal its qualification for the playoffs. But first it will have to tackle Royal Challengers Bangalore on Monday which, after three defeats at the start of the campaign, has managed to build a momentum with three wins.
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Ever since the arrival of Mitchell Starc, RCB’s fortunes have changed for the good as the Aussie left-arm pacer has continued his good form from the World Cup and, along with leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal, has given the team more teeth to its attack.
The visitors have also benefited from the decision to promote A.B. de Villiers to number three to back up openers Chris Gayle and Virat Kohli, thereby ensuring the best batsmen in the line-up are facing maximum overs.
Also, the likes of Sarfaraz Khan and Mandeep Singh have shown they can play crucial innings.
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For CSK, the two matches on the road have raised some uncomfortable issues that the team would like to have avoided.
The team now faces some question marks over some of its players in the side that could unsettle the combination, especially, for a team that likes sameness and not known to experiment.
While a part of the problem rose from the injury to its lead spinner R. Ashwin in the team’s last home match against KKR, the form of Ravindra Jadeja should be worrying the team management.
While Ashwin’s replacement Pawan Negi has done a fairly reasonable job in the two matches so far and also showcased his skills with bat, it will be a test for the left-arm spinner against the explosive RCB top order. Dhoni will require Jadeja to step up as the team’s main spinner in case Ashwin, who will be assessed at the ground before the match, is not fit.
Over the last three matches, the middle order too has been exposed and the team will need at least one of Suresh Raina, Faf du Plessis and M.S. Dhoni to anchor the innings and bat through.
Raina has had an indifferent tournament so far, unable to convert starts into big innings, except for one fifty.
The left-hander has been the backbone of the CSK batting unit and is the only batsman to have scored more than 400 runs in every edition of the tournament. When he gets going, the team more often than not succeeds.