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IPL 2021 Auction: Dhoni-Fleming ponder tough choices; attacking openers on target to move on

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The Chennai Super Kings have been the most consistent team in the history of the IPL, however, the team has lost out to the Mumbai Indians in terms of winning the title on most occasions.

Only one man, MS Dhoni has led the franchise over the 11-year long journey in the league, and he has seen some of the greater heights with the side, but the last season turned out to be a complete trough for the side, with them plummeting to territory alien to them over their long history-- the bottom half of the points table.

The team failed to manage their resources well and backed their senior players to do the job once more which backfired horribly on the Dhoni-led side and the management came under severe scrutiny and criticism for not allowing younger players access to the opportunities on offer.

MS Dhoni has been a reluctant captain in terms of bringing wholesome changes in the team, and it went one step further in the last season when Dhoni kept on backing players who were out of form and did not back youngsters to come good.

Its competitor Mumbai Indians tasted the first success in 2013 when they clicked the title by defeating them in the finals and have been able to win three more in the next seven seasons.

So, what did the Super Kings do wrong in their last season, and what are their main challenges. How can MS Dhoni and the team management resurrect the franchise in the upcoming edition of the league, and also, what will be the way forward for them in terms of the transition from the experienced players to players of future generations? We answer everything here.

Strengths

The Super Kings, unlike some of the teams in franchise cricket, know what their strengths are and their skipper Dhoni has been a master of manoeuvering resources with limitations. They have always gone for judicious utilisation of players and have in general refrained from buying swashbuckling players after settling on a core group.

They trust their players in the long run and invest in their prowess in terms of what they can offer in future. They had once bided aggressively for Jadeja who could not justify the big price he got immediately, but eventually, he has now developed into a proper match-winner for them.

The success of Jadeja in a way symbolises the thought process in the CSK camp. In the seasons before the last edition, Dhoni was blamed for backing players for far too many occasions, but their success at crucial junctures ratifies the Modus Operandi of MS Dhoni, the CSK captain.

They have been credited with nurturing players in terms of their temperament and it shows up on the big nights when they face knockout games or pressure situations. They take pride in their performances which come in high-stakes situations.

This year too, they will be rich in experience with the presence of big players such as Suresh Raina, MS Dhoni and Ravindra Jadeja while the likes of Ruturaj Gaikwad, Sam Curran will provide the exuberance of youth to the team when in search of fresh energy during and after the game.

Weakness

Your strengths can also be your weaknesses and it turns out that the Super Kings suffered from the same problem in the last season. The team management banked on the experience to do the job one season more and turned out the expectations were too much to be fulfilled as all senior players such as Shane Watson, Faf du Plessis,  and MS Dhoni himself struggled to get going. Faf du Plessis put on big runs but he was slow to get going and it put a lot of pressure on the middle order which was already missing the reliability and consistency of Suresh Raina.

The batsmen at the top of the order found it tough to strike big in the power play and during chases, the batsmen batting at lower down the order failed to redeem the team and the team was reduced a to a shallow image of the team which once possessed so much of brilliance in terms of match-finishing abilities.

The burden of ageing batsmen who were coming off a long break and were taking a lot of time to settle down at the crease became too much for the younger lot such as Ruturaj Gaikwad and Sam Curran to muster and the team eventually floundered to protect their legacy. Had it not been for the late spark of Gaikwad and Curran’s belligerent attitude, the campaign would have been more worrisome for the men in yellow.

One more aspect of their game plan which has always been their strengths in the past—spin bowling, also disappointed in the last season with the likes of Piyush Chawla, and Karn Sharma leaking a lot of runs without buying wickets in return. To make the matter worse for Dhoni, Jadeja too looked off-colour with the ball and Dhoni struggled to find a reliable force with the ball.

There was no end of crisis for Dhoni and it prompted a man of his nerves to call the campaign as ‘a boat with too many holes to plug.’

Retained players

 MS Dhoni, Suresh Raina, Ambati Rayudu, N Jagadeesan, Faf Du Plessis, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Sam Curran, Ravi Jadeja, Dwayne Bravo, Mitchell Santner, Josh Hazlewood, Shardul Thakur, Karn Sharma, KM Asif, Imran Tahir, R. Sai Kishore, Deepak Chahar, Lungi Ngidi.

Players released

Kedar Jadhav, Piyush Chawla, Murali Vijay, Monu Kumar, Harbhajan Singh

First XI before the auction

Faf du Plessis, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Suresh Raina, Ambati Rayudu, MS Dhoni (c &wk), Sam Curran, Ravindra Jadeja, Karn Sharma, Shardul Thakur, Deepak Chahar, Lungi Ngidi/Josh Hazlewood/Imran Tahir

Auction strategy

Squad Size: 25

India players: 18

Overseas: 07

Total Money spent: Rs 62.1 cr

Purse remaining: Rs 22.9 cr

Available slot: 07

Overseas: 01

Going into the auction, the franchise would be desperate to find names who can provide late innings bursts and take the team over the line from pressure situations.

Also, they would be looking for reliable openers to back up the likes of Robin Uttahapa who was traded before the retention window closed and Faf du Plessis who had returned mixed fortunes in the last season.

As they have released Piyush Chawla after a horrendous season last year, they will be itching to get spinners in the rank as well, but given the auction scheduled on February 18 is not a grand one, they can hold their horses for the big one after the season where they will have a lot tougher ask of starting the building up of new team which will take the baton from MS Dhoni and his contemporaries.

Probable targets

There have been players who have been shining in T20 cricket across the globe. There are openers who have taken the recently-concluded Big Bash League in Australia by storm and the Super Kings may well target them to start the transition process.

However, with only one slot remaining for overseas players, the Super Kings will have their hands tied and will have to make a choice to choose batsmen or an all-rounder who can provide late innings flourish along with balance to the playing XI or openers to provide early innings blitz which was missing in the last season.

Here are the players the Super Kings can target

For the opening slot, it’s Englishmen all the way with as many as three men running as the front runner to don the yellow jersey in the next edition of the marquee event.

  1. Dawid Malan

Dawid Malan has emerged as one of the brighter spots for England white-ball cricket in the last 18-24 months. He has been at the top of his game for England in all conditions across the world. 

Although he could not quite own the recently concluded Big Bash League in Australia, the left-hander will be a prize pick in the Indian Premier League. If the CSK get Malan, they can expect him to do roles similar to Michael Hussey who brought both stability as well as aggression at the top of the order in their successful years in the league.

  1. Alex Hales

Hales has gone out of favour from England set up but his form has not left him yet as he has been travelling to dominate the world. He was in ferocious form in the Big Bash and in the last six games of the season, he had one century and two half-centuries to his name. He was an instrumental figure at the top of the order who propelled the Sydney Thunder to the knockout stage of the tournament.

Hales has played in the IPL before and his game against spinners has not been poor. He should be a tempting option for the Super Kings if they are looking at an option with both present and future prospects.

  1. Jason Roy

Roy, like his other compatriots, is among front runners to be in the eyesight of the Super Kings who are in desperate search of players with flair and substance at the start of the innings. Roy has also shown signs of having strong nerves for the big occasion and these sort of characteristics are picked up easily by Dhoni and Fleming who will look to Roy to replicate his form for England in the IPL as well.

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