Hyderabad: Chennai Super Kings (CSK) were prolific last season throughout the league stage finishing at the second spot in the points table. They also continued their form by lifting the title for the fifth title under the leadership of Mahendra Singh Dhoni. Now, when they will enter the IPL 2024, the defending champions will look to defend their crown with consistent performance. CSK usually doesn’t look like a lethal unit on paper, but they prove it false with their exploits in the middle with the team dishing out collective performances.
Devon Conway and Ruturaj Gaikwad were the star performers with the willow for the franchise scoring 672 and 590 runs respectively in the 2023 edition. The former had an average of 51.69 while the latter averaged 42.14 in the previous edition. The bowling unit also clicked well for the franchise with pacer Matheesha Pathirana, left-arm spinner Ravindra Jadeja and pacer Tushar Deshpande taking wickets for the team.
Ahead of the season, the team strengthened their batting department by paying a sum of Rs 14 crores to acquire the services of Daryl Mitchell. Rachin Ravindra, who they bought only for a price of Rs 1.80 crores might turn out to be the biggest steal for the franchise if he replicates his performance from the ICC ODI World Cup held last year.
Ahead of the season, let us take a look at the SWOT analysis of CSK.
Strengths
Considering that the tournament is going to be scheduled in India, CSK will rely on their spinners to get maximum output when they play on the home surface which is likely to assist them. They have the likes of Ravindra Jadeja, Moeen Ali, Maheesh Theekshana, and Mitchell Santner, so making runs might be difficult against this bowling unit.
Also, the batting unit includes a lot of depth. Although Devon Conway is going to miss the initial phase of the IPL, they have Ruturaj Gaikwad and Ajinkya Rahane who can open the innings.
Moeen Ali, Daryl Mitchell and Rachin Ravindra can ply their trade in the middle order while the team have the likes of MS Dhoni and Shivam Dubey who can provide the finishing touches. Add Shardul Thakur and Deepak Chahar to it and the batting unit seems to have a lot of depth which might come in handy in case an innings collapse occurs.
Weakness
Devon Conway’s absence will be the biggest sign of worry for the franchise. Considering his performance last year, the southpaw is likely to play a crucial role for the team but an injury to his thumb during the recent T20I series against Australia would make him sit on the bench at least till the first phase of the IPL.
The team also lacks in the Indian spin department where they don’t have any backup for Ravindra Jadeja. Prashant Solanki is another option, who bowls leg-spin, but he is yet to make a mark in the IPL and also has very little experience of playing in the domestic circuit.
Opportunities
CSK stunned everyone at the auction table when they bought Sameer Rizvi, a destructive middle-order batter from Uttar Pradesh for a sum of Rs 8.40 crores. The team is already looking for a permanent number three batter after Suresh Raina and they can place their bet on Rizvi. The youngster is popularly called as right-handed Raina and they would look up to him to script demolition similar to him.
Ruturaj Gaikwad and Shivam Dubey are the other two Indian players who would be looking to prove their mettle. Especially with the T20 World Cup to be held immediately after the IPL, both of them would like to book a berth in the team by drawing some attention from the selectors.
Threats
Although experience comes in handy on most occasions, age can go against the team sometimes. MS Dhoni is already 42 years old, plus Rahane is also in the twilight of his career, so the age factor might hamper their progress in the tournament. Also, the team have injury-prone players like Deepak Chahar and Pathirana. Thus, their fitness can become an obstacle for the side.
