Previewing the Champions League T20: Chennai Super Kings
The second edition of the Champions League T20 begins on September 11, 2010 and ten cricket clubs from around the world will battle it out to gain the crown of the best in the world. One of the teams to watch is the Chennai Super Kings.
How they got there:
Chennai Super Kings had a slow start to the Indian Premier League of 2010. After winning two of their first three games, they lost http://www.senore.com/Cricket/MS-Dhoni-c2028, their captain, to injury for a period of three games, and Suresh Raina took over. This began their worst ever run of play in IPL history so far, when they lost four successive games to slump to the bottom half of the table and with virtually no chance of getting through to the semi-finals.
The Super Kings then won the next three matches including one against the Mumbai Indians, who were the top side on the points table at that time. By the time they went into their last game, they needed to win their last match against Kings XI http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Punjab-c833 to qualify for the knock-out. Captain Dhoni played one of his best T20 innings to get Chennai into the semi-finals.
In the semi-finals, they easily took out Deccan Chargers, while in the finals, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Mumbai-c820 Indians were beaten thanks to some excellent tactical captaincy by Dhoni.
Strengths:
Chennai’s biggest strength is their all-round team brought together by a captain who knows how to get the best out of their side. The batting was affected greatly by the loss of form for Matthew Hayden, but one gets the sense that in the Champions League T20 this year, with the games to be played in http://www.senore.com/Cricket/South-Africa-c757 where there will be much bounce, Hayden could be their best bet.
Weaknesses:
The bowling attack is something that the side could have a look at. With Laxmipathy Balaji and Albie Morkel known for their propensity to leak runs, they do not possess a good back-up option to the likes of Doug Bollinger. http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Makhaya-Ntini-c73953 was surprisingly missing throughout their IPL campaign, and that is probably due to his lack of international wickets. All in all, Dhoni will expect a better bowling performance from the side than the IPL.
Players to watch out for:
Chennai will rely on some of their batsmen, Dhoni included. Morkel may not have had a great time with the ball in his hand, but he could send a few flying in the slog overs. Hayden will look to get back to form, but the player everyone will be watching is recently retired from international cricket, Muthiah Muralitharan.
Muralitharan’s retirement from international cricket allows him more leeway to feature in such tournaments and without the worry about injuries. Suresh Raina’s batting should put them in a good stead at the number three position after the kind of form that he has exhibited in recent times.
Chennai’s fixtures:
Vs http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Victoria-c859 on September 16, v Warriors on September 22.
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