The Yellove, Continues..

Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in an IPL final and my new Blog, were two of the most awaited things for quite a while (sic😅)! Well, both are here now. In this blog, we will have a peep at Dad's Army's journey this year at the IPL, how the fortunes turned in their favour and the key to their success in this edition.

CSK is set to face the Kolkata's dark horses in Friday's final.

The Uprooters

Shane Watson. A destructive Aussie all-rounder known for his pinch-hitting and crucial death bowling, became an opening batsman for this franchise when it returned in 2018 following an infamous ban for 2 years. His contribution was monumental in helping the franchise lift its 3rd IPL title in 11 years. He continued the good-run in the next edition but couldn't replicate the same in 2020, following which he hanged boots on his illustrious cricketing career in the shortest format.

Rutu took the onus well from Watto, allowing Faf to express freely.

Replacing such a maestro of the game wasn't an easy task. But the young Ruturaj Gaikwad, who showed some hints of brilliance in the latter half of previous IPL, has risen to the occasion. This young batter along with Faf has provided solid starts to the side and these two played a major role in taking their side to the finals. Both the openers have scored more than 500 runs this season and Rutu is just 24 runs short of the Orange Cap this year. These two managed to consistently do what no other side was able to replicate this season.

The long batting/balling line-up 🏏

Another reason behind the massive success of the franchise is the existence of extended batting line-up due to a good number of batting as well as bowling all-rounders. One could observe that even in the last match against the Delhi Capitals, Deepak Chahar, who recently scored a match-winning knock of 69 against Sri Lanka, was at No.10 in the batting order. The team boasts of the likes of Rayudu, Uthappa, Moeen, Dhoni and even Chinna-Thala (Raina) this time-round. And even if someone like Raina, Rayudu or Dhoni aren't able to score consistently throughout the season, they always have someone like Jadeja or Shardul or even Bravo chipping in with useful contributions. They got numerous opportunities time round to showcase the blade.

The best all-rounder attack this IPL

The bowling unit is handled well by these all-rounders with the likes of Hazlewood and Chahar spearheading the pace department with Bravo and Thakur negotiating the death overs. Captain Dhoni has ample lions in his den ready to roar with the ball and he's managing well this problem of PLENTY.

Last Roar for the 🦁❔

Definitely not !! - MS recently cleared the speculations regarding his retirement from the yellow jersey. He stated that he hopes to bid farewell to the Whistle Podu army at the Chepauk. The Thala fans are certainly happy by this development and are rooting for their beloved captain to lift the 🏆 once again (at least) before he bids farewell to the team and this game. Mahi is really close to achieving this as he steps out tomorrow in his 9th IPL Final (8th as CSK Captain) and his exploits in the last match makes one believe that his willow could still wield the helicopter 🚁....

The Lio, The Sigma, The Mascot

Well, this brings a close to my views and opinions regarding CSK's performance this time round in the IPL. The Super Kings will be favourites to win this contest but the uprising Knights could pose a close contest for them and the Final tomorrow will surely be a delight to the fans and followers of this game. Returning after so long was something that I would work upon and surely try to ensure that you get new content much sooner☺.

Feel free to express your views regarding the blog. Your feedback/insights on this topic would be much appreciated. Will be back soon with new content.

Till then:

     Stay awesome and keep hitting!!