IPL 2022: The reasons behind Chennai Super Kings’ struggle to start off its season

On Sunday night, after Chennai Super Kings lost to Punjab Kings by 54 runs, skipper Ravindra Jadeja made an odd statement. “We need to give him confidence. We will definitely back him,” he said, when asked about Ruturaj Gaikwad’s poor start to the 2022 Indian Premier League season.

The question was an obvious one. Gaikwad smacked an astonishing 635 runs in IPL 2021 and claimed the Orange Cap. His runs were instrumental in Chennai winning its fourth IPL title. Well, of course, it also helped him climb the ladder to international cricket and a further pre-auction retention at CSK worth ₹6 crore. Fast forward to 2022, and in three matches thus far, Gaikwad has scored 0, 1 and 1.

Chennai Super Kings have lost both their opening matches at the start of IPL 2022. Image: Sportzpics

His lack of runs is a key reason why CSK is struggling to get their 2022 IPL season going. But, it isn’t the only reason, and that’s where the oddity of Jadeja’s statement stems from. With a strike-rate of 145.51 and average 75.66 across 12 innings, along with 13 wickets in 16 games, Jadeja too was instrumental in Chennai returning to glory after the 2020 disappointment. This time around, in three matches thus far, Jadeja has gone missing too.

For Gaikwad, it can be a case of expectations weighing him down. There is also the scenario wherein opposition franchises have found out his core weakness – lack of footwork against early movement – and are exploiting it very well. For Jadeja, though, it is a clear case of lack of confidence in what he is doing. Retained for ₹16 crore, and thereafter an added responsibility of leading CSK, he is a shadow of his flamboyant all-round self that we have come to identify with Jadeja.

Give Gaikwad confidence and back him, he said? Jadeja could use some of that for himself. And so, if you want an early summation of Chennai’s problems, here it is. A sum total of ₹22 crore and two of their star players just aren’t at the races yet. Retention is a key indicator of any franchise’s plans and CSK’s future vision was built around Gaikwad-Jadeja in that context. So far, their plans have come a cropper and for good reason.

Problems pertaining to both Gaikwad and Jadeja are rooted to the same core issue. It can be classified under ‘absence of Faf du Plessis’ and/or ‘flawed retention policy and auction strategy’.

Chennai didn’t retain Faf, probably under the impression that they would re-buy him. But they faced intense competition for the likes of Deepak Chahar and Shardul Thakur. Shelling out ₹14 crore for Chahar dented their prospects, and they lost out on both du Plessis and Thakur. It has hurt them in more ways than one.

How could they not retain at least one of Chahar and Thakur, thus subjecting their strategy to the mercy of nine other franchises? It was a stunning decision and has come back to bite them as an increased number of teams had stretched thin the players’ pool and severely impacted auction strategies. Now, Chahar is out injured until at least 25 April, they do not have Thakur to bolster their bowling and du Plessis’ absence means their top-order isn’t scoring as many runs. This is a headache that just won’t go away.

Gaikwad’s tally of 635 runs was only two more – yes, only two runs more – than du Plessis’ 633 runs last season. Together, their 1268 runs comprised for nearly 49 per cent of CSK’s total runs in IPL 2021. Not retaining du Plessis meant CSK endangered 25 per cent of their run-scoring ability, and now it has gone to Royal Challengers Bangalore.

Instead, CSK bought back Ambati Rayudu and Robin Uthappa who had combined for a total 372 runs in IPL 2021. It is not to say that Rayudu-Uthappa cannot kick off an oldies’ revolution at CSK this season. Uthappa has made a fine start too, but ask this. Does anyone really expect (or fear, from an opposition perspective) that Rayudu-Uthappa will fire CSK to another title triumph?

From Chahar, to Thakur, to du Plessis, to Rayudu-Uthappa, you don’t even need to do the money-and-returns math here to figure out how this was a loss-making proposition for CSK, and whoever thought of this strategy needs to be sacked today.

Three matches into the season then, missing du Plessis’ runs, Thakur’s chutzpah and Chahar’s new ball penetration, is there any surprise regarding CSK’s worst-ever start to any IPL season? Well, there is more to consider.

While Gaikwad lost a stable opening partner in du Plessis who took pressure off him, Jadeja lost someone who could have taken over the captaincy mantle instead. In that, du Plessis is just like MS Dhoni – give him a team and he will make best use of the resources at his disposal. Nobody quite knows what kind of a leader Jadeja is, or can be, and he is certainly not one to lead a squad that has been assembled for him.

Du Plessis wouldn’t have needed any hand holding from Dhoni either, but Jadeja clearly needs all the support he can get. So much so, there is a blurred line of leadership, wherein nobody can quite tell who is in-charge when CSK are on the field. Yes, Jadeja is running the show, with Dhoni-Stephen Fleming aiding him. The big unknown is, if Jadeja would have been a different leader, had Dhoni retired altogether.

These are core issues at the heart of CSK’s problems, and their summation is reflecting on the field. In Chahar’s absence, missing du Plessis and Thakur (not to mention Josh Hazlewood, Imran Tahir and Sam Curran), Adam Milne’s injury, and so on, CSK is lacking the right mix whether it comes to batting or bowling. This franchise simply doesn’t know how to rely on the likes of Mukesh Choudhary and Tushar Deshpande. It is not a reflection on the latter duo, instead just a reality of CSK’s past success and current predicament.

It means now there is a definitive lack of impact players in the playing eleven. Moeen Ali is yet to his straps, and Devon Conway cannot play due to the overseas players’ eqaution. Overall, it has resulted in an imbalanced playing eleven for CSK, wherein Gaikwad is not scoring, there is too much reliance on oldies, Jadeja is a shadow of his former self, and there is a severe disparity between batting and bowling options across the board.

So much so, Dhoni’s timeless half-century and Shivam Dube’s back-to-back batting exploits are the only highlights for the Yellow Brigade fans across the first 10 days of competition.

Losing three-in-a-row at the beginning of any IPL season, even before the addition of two new teams, could be the norm for any franchise. But not for Chennai Super Kings. Sadly, this time around, it doesn’t seem to be an aberration and CSK are in for a long season ahead.

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