The countdown to the 15th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) draws closer with each passing day; leaving us passionate fans in a state of excitement, restlessness, and constant speculation about the prospects of our favorite teams.
So to help ease our nerves and tension ahead of the upcoming season, we’ve come up with a simple exercise to analyse every IPL team. Over the coming days, we’ll be picking our predicted best, all-terrain starting XI for every IPL team. And to kick off this exciting series, we’ll be leading with the defending champs from the IPL 2021 season, the Chennai Super Kings.
The Openers
Ruturaj Gaikwad conveniently picks himself as the team’s de-facto opener. The 25-year-old Maharashtra bat enjoyed a stellar last season, leading the run-scorer’s chart with 635 runs to win the orange cap and the championship. Ruturaj is a sure-shot starter, but should there be any injury concerns, Robbie Uthappa will be waiting in the wings to don the yellow jersey and get his game going.
For Ruturaj’s partner, we’ve chosen CSK’s latest Kiwi signing, Devon Conway. 30-year-old Conway heads into the franchise at the back of a great deal of experience in New Zealand’s domestic T20 circuit. He blends into Chennai’s tried-and-tested successful template of having an experienced pro at the top of the order; similar to the roles Brendon McCullum, Michael Hussey, Faf du Plessis, Shane Watson, and Dwayne Smith played for the team in its yesteryears.
Backups available: Hari Nishant, Robbie Uthappa, Subranshu Senapati
The Middle Order
Moeen Ali served as captain MS Dhoni’s virtual Suresh Raina 2.0 last season- attacking the spinners in the middle overs, and providing a few overs of bowling on conducive surfaces. He should slot in at 3, although that position could vary depending on situations/ matchups.
Ambati Rayudu should start ahead of Robbie to bat 2-down in CSK’s first choice playing XI. There is an obvious core-member factor that comes into play here- what with Rayudu being a part of the franchise since 2018. But Rayudu fits the niche of a batsman who can play on more than one gears perfectly, which makes him the quintessential number 4 batter in this team.
At number five, we have Chennai’s latest Indian signing, Shivam Dube, playing a hybrid finisher/ accumulator role. In his brief professional career so far, Dube has shown a lot of promise and potential, except it has never really been able to translate on to the big stage. But with MSD as in-charge, fans might just be in to see Dube play at his explosive best this season. Also, he lends a bit of bowling flexibility to this side.
Backup players: Bhagath Verma, N Jagadeesan
The Big 2
In at number six, we’ve gone with Ravindra Jadeja ahead of captain Dhoni at the risk of raising a few eyebrows. But factually, Jadeja has been one of the team’s most destructive finishers in the death overs, so it makes very little sense to underutilize his batting. Dhoni himself opted to come into bat after Jaddu on several occasions last year, so there is a certain amount of merit behind this batting promotion. Combined with his ability to bowl some clutch overs of spin in the middle overs, Sir Jadeja clearly establishes himself as the MVP of the team.
Finally, at number 7 on this team, captain Dhoni manages to get past the passing mentions and gets this dedicated spot to himself. He will be the team’s de-facto wicket-keeper- unsurprisingly; but as per popular speculation, his role on CSK’s captaincy this year might just be in for a few surprises. Regardless of those conjectures, Dhoni will be one of the team’s primary finishers, and a lot depends on his big-hitting abilities in the death overs for CSK to replicate their success.
Backup players: Mitchell Santner
The bowling attack
Dwayne Bravo and Deepak Chahar- the two seasoned CSK pros- will be leading this new-look, with some traces of the old, bowling lineup. Their ability to smash sixes at the death adds to the team’s overall all-round balance; but more importantly, they will have to lead their respective bowling profiles at different stages of the innings. Deepak Chahar will start off proceedings of CSK in the powerplay, while DJ Bravo will have to shoulder the death-bowling responsibilities on his experienced shoulders. Expect the duo to play a big role in Chennai’s success this year.
The final 2 spots of the team will be taken by Adam Milne and young pacer Tushar Deshpande. Admittedly, this is an area where CSK don’t have as many ‘experienced’ players they would’ve liked, and this could in-turn effect their bowling prowess by a fair amount. Having said that, Dhoni is known to be an excellent man-manager, and could really help these players in unearthing their best potential for the team.
Backup players: Dwaine Pretorious, Maheesh Theekshana, KM Asif, Rajvardhan Hangargekar, Chris Jordan
ALSO READ: The Strongest Playing XI Which RCB Can Field in IPL 2022
Strongest CSK Playing XI for IPL 2022: Ruturaj Gaikwad, Devon Conway, Moeen Ali, Ambati Rayudu, Shivam Dubey, MS Dhoni, Ravindra Jadeja, Dwayne Bravo, Deepak Chahar, Adam Milne, Tushar Deshpande