The road back doesn’t get any easier for Chennai Super Kings
CHENNAI: The road back doesn’t get any easier for Chennai Super Kings. Three games in and not a single point on the board. For a side that once set the rhythm of an IPL season, this has been a jarring start. The slide is deeper at the M.A. Chidambaram Stadium where they will be fighting to avoid their seventh straight defeat when they take on Delhi Capitals on Saturday evening.
The Chepauk used to feel like a maze for visiting teams, where spin dictated terms and exits were hard to find. On the other hand, Delhi arrive carrying a different kind of weight. A last-ball defeat still stings as they had almost sealed a third successive win.
For Chennai, there is a chance of fresh energy. Dewald Brevis, the young South African known for his clean striking, could be back in the mix after recovering from a side strain. If he slots in, it could alter the tempo in the middle. There’s also a potential tweak in the bowling. Trinidadian left-arm spinner Akeal Hosein might come in for Noor Ahmed, who hasn’t quite found his rhythm yet.
Team balance has been another talking point. Chennai didn’t even use their full overseas quota in the last two outings, fielding just two foreign players against Punjab at home. That in itself hints at uncertainty, a side still feeling their way through options. But beyond combinations, the larger concern sits with leadership and form.
The parallels with 2022 are hard to ignore. Back then, four early defeats triggered a mid-season captaincy shift, Ravindra Jadeja stepping aside for MS Dhoni as the campaign unraveled. Now, Ruturaj Gaikwad is going through a rough patch, both as captain and batter. Fourteen losses in 22 matches at the helm. And with the bat, the returns have dried up alarmingly: 7, 28, 6, 1, 5 — an average of 9.4 across his last five outings. The fluency that once defined him has been missing.
He hasn’t been alone in that struggle. Sanju Samson’s arrival sparked excitement, but the returns haven’t matched the buzz. Sanju hasn’t touched the double digits. The burden, instead, has fallen on a few shoulders. Ayush Mhatre, Jamie Overton and Sarfaraz Khan have shown fight.
Delhi, in contrast, look closer to a finished unit. Pathum Nissanka and KL Rahul seem to have struck well at the top, their 76-run stand in the previous game laying a strong base. The middle order has depth and variety. Sameer Rizvi’s emergence adds intrigue, while David Miller and Tristan Stubbs bring experience and finishing power. Delhi’s bowling offers reassurance. Lungi Ngidi has been clever with his variations, T. Natarajan continues to hit uncomfortable lengths and the spin pair of Axar Patel and Kuldeep Yadav provides control through the middle.
