Chennai's ‘whistle podu’ struggles to lift their team

 By K.R. Nayar

Rajasthan Royals rise to the fifth-place pushing Chennai  Super Kings to the bottom of the table

This Indian Premier League has seen many unexpected happenings.  Chennai Super Kings at the bottom of the table is one such case in point.  No one would ever have imagined that Chennai, who has always hovered at the top of the point table for many years, would slip to such a position.  It must be extremely painful for Chennai supporters as even their tag line ‘whistle podu’ to egg the team may not work this time, as their team is on the edge of a no return.

Chennai skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni, playing in his 200th IPL, saw all his plans crumble despite winning the toss. He realised that his experience as a player and captain was not enough if his players did not contribute to the process of winning matches.

What has pulled Chennai down in this edition is a mystery. They have five solid batsmen such as Shane Watson, Faf Du Plessis, Ambati Rayudu, Dhoni himself, and hard-hitting Sam Curran. They are supported by Ravindra Jadeja, who can play cameo knocks. In addition to having an experienced captain in Dhoni, they also have an outstanding coach in Stephen Fleming. Despite that, they turned out to be an easy team to beat.

Dhoni has admitted that he needs to look into what has been going wrong with their process.  Is it too late to do it after 10 matches and seven defeats? Known for his ability to read the game well and use his resources effectively, unfortunately, this time it does not seem to have clicked. Batting first, Chennai should have scored around 175 runs. All that their batsmen could deliver was a mere 125 for 5, which is the lowest score for the team batting first in this IPL. Their batsmen could not force the run flow and in the entire innings there was just one six hit by Sam Curran.

Chennai had to helplessly watch Rajasthan doing everything right. They picked early wickets to restrict Chennai to an easy score and then chase the target with absolute calmness despite losing their first three wickets within the first five overs.  A responsible captain's knock from Smith, providing all the strike to his partner Jos Buttler who was stroking freely, was intelligent. Buttler’s unbeaten 70 runs and Smith’s conquered 26 runs and their 98-runs partnership in 13 overs have lifted them to fifth place in the points table.

A look at the points table points towards an intense battle between teams in the coming days for a place in the playoffs. We will surely witness many more ifs and buts moments.