Chennai Super Kings IPL 2021 Part II Preview

Chennai Super Kings IPL 2021 Part II Preview

After their disastrous campaign in the UAE in IPL 2020, the Chennai Super Kings bounced back in style in the first half of IPL 2021, winning five of their first six games of the season. CSK have benefitted from the return of Suresh Raina along with key the key addition of Moeen Ali, and the Yellow Army will be looking to win their fourth IPL title in what is likely to be MS Dhoni’s final season with the franchise.

Season Recap

Chennai started the season in a rather disappointing fashion against the Delhi Capitals, but they followed that comprehensive defeat with five consecutive wins and ended the first half of the season in second place on the table. This winning run started with commanding victories against the Punjab Kings and Rajasthan Royals – by six wickets and 45 runs respectively – before CSK edged out Kolkata in a massive run-fest at the Wankhede. 

An all-time performance from Ravindra Jadeja then helped CSK breeze past RCB before MS Dhoni’s side stretched their winning streak to five games with a comfortable win against SRH. This run was finally ended by a titanic performance from Kieron Pollard as Mumbai chased down 218, and Chennai will have the perfect opportunity for revenge as they resume the season against their age-old rivals in the curtain-raiser at Dubai.

Best Performer

Chennai have enjoyed a drastic change of fortunes in IPL 2021 and a big reason for their success has been the form of Moeen Ali. Batting at number three, Ali has added much-needed explosiveness with the bat for the Super Kings at the top of the order, and the Englishman has scored 25 runs or more in 5 out of 6 innings in IPL 2021.

Ali scored 206 runs at an incredibly healthy strike rate of 157 while also picking up five wickets with an economy rate of only 6.16.

Biggest area of concern

While CSK boast the deepest batting lineup amongst any team in the tournament, there are some concerns regarding the performances of the fast-bowlers. CSK have registered three of the four worst bowling figures this season, with the likes of Sam Curran (8.6), Lungi Ngidi (10.4) and Shardul Thakur (10.3) leaking runs with a high economy rate.

Team News

Like the Mumbai Indians, Chennai have retained their squad for the remainder of the 2021 season, with English players such as Sam Curran and Moeen Ali returning along with the likes of Dwayne Bravo and Faf du Plessis.

The only change to their squad for the UAE leg is the return of Josh Hazelwood after the Australian pacer pulled out of IPL 2021 due to personal reasons.

Probable XI: Ruturaj Gaikwad, Faf du Plessis, Moeen Ali, Suresh Raina, Ambati Rayudu, MS Dhoni, Ravindra Jadeja, Sam Curran, Dwayne Bravo, Shardul Thakur, Deepak Chahar