Though the rain stopped the play, Kolkata Knight Riders were the deserving winners today. They bowled and batted better than Chennai Super Kings. And the match clearly exposed the weakness in Chennai Super Kings arsenal.
Negatives
1. Randiv: Randiv is effective only in the pitches that has a lot of uneven bounce. In a pitch which assisted slow bowlers, his bowling was disappointing. With Bravo coming in for the next match, this might be the last of Randiv - we see this season. Now the team has to think hard before deciding on Bravo or Faf for the next match.
2. Go Slow Strategy: Chennai Super Kings have always preferred the "Slow & Steady Start" strategy in the tournament. But this works best when the pitch is not a bowling paradise like today. In pitches like this, the runs scored in the initial six overs would win or lose the matches.
3. Vijay: He is currently in the middle of a poor batch. If he did not bat well in the next 2 matches, it is time for the team to drop him and bring in Mukund/Vignesh.
Positives:
1. Badri: He showed today that he is a class act.
2. Ashwin: His bowling was exceptional today. If he had bowled his entire quota of overs today, Chennai Super Kings might have sneaked with a win today.
Now it is crucial that the team bounces back from the defeat immediately.
18 comments:
Very poor batting performance. As you have rightly said the slow and steady approach is not working. Vijay needs to be dropped and maybe Morkel should open along with Hussey or Saha can be tried (I think he has opened for KKR earlier)
Raina still does not seem to have hit his form fully. The batting looked very brittle today.
Very worst decision by MSD to bat first. Whole world know D\L method might come into play because of threatening rain. Sometimes, he surprises everyone with such bizzare decisions.
Why wait 2 more games to drop Vijay? His last 3 innings have produced 3 in 14 balls, 5 in 6 balls, and 5 in 14 balls. It's already time for him to make way for an attacking opener like Vignesh. Or alternatively Anirudha to open with Hussey and Saha taking his place in the middle order. We need to make the change before it's too late. Every game counts. Every point counts.
shd drop vijay as no reason to explain... Vignesh or anirudha shd open....
Well, here after the only match that I guess we could win might be against the dare devils. With this line up and with almost now NO match winners its certainly a tough situ for CSK.
I predicted it abs right that we cant win. Thats exactly what it turned out to be.
I see no reason the inclusion of Saha (if he doesnt keeps). I see no reason persisting with Vijay. I see no reason persisting with Aniruda (in chennai pitches). I see no reason persisting with Randiv (anywhere; Thank god will not play in this season), I see no reason why Hussey is opening for chennai either (i ud like to question CSK strategy), yet we keep winning... probably because we have Dhoni.
So its high time for Dhoni to raise his bar and choose the best team. He always does the unpredictable.
http://csk247.blogspot.com/2011/05/kkr-beat-csk-in-rain-affected-encounter.html
CSK may keep winning because of Dhoni... but not because he is a thinking man's captain (a la Warne), but because of his amazing ability to stay calm even amidst the most turbulent situation. This in turn rubs off on his entire team and sometimes that is all that is needed to let your opponents implode. Too often they oblige. His stick-to-the-plan doggedness can be both an asset and a liability (when it comes to dropping poor performers). IMO, MVijay and Randhiv need to be dumped and that couldn't happen soon enough!
@Danesh,
Hmm. Might be wrong to drop Vijay.. I say he deserves atleast one more chance before we drop him.
@syed,
In Hindsight, it seems that Dhoni made a wrong decision. But believe the pitch hoodwinked everybody..
@Vasanth,
Whatever we might say, Vijay is more talented than Vignesh or Anirudha. So better that he comes to form rather than we being quick with our decisions
@Dhoni,
Not all the decisions. Opening with Hussey is not a bad strategy considering the team. It is more that vijay is not firing thereby adding making Hussey look bad.
@BK,
CSK is wins because when Dhoni pushes the right button while defending, the team responds magnificently.
@above
I agree with most of ur points.
The problem is that we need to fire at the top or have an explosive last 4-5 overs.
At the end we have MSD and Albie. Morkel is always a bit of hit or miss player, if he connects he can hit huge sixers but he can be workd out as he was yesterday.
MSD has not played much am yet to see him hit the kind of form which is needed.
changes in team may not happen much, but if Bravo is back, it would be great to have him. He is as good as Morkel if not better and it adds to the middle order.
having said that we are still playing ultra defensive in the 1st five overs.
Vijay and Hussey is a good combo, but Vijay has not been firing. and adding to the woes twice has got out after consuming a lot of deliveries.
For a team like ours we need healthy contributions from each in a small way.
And it seems a little uphill, RCB has the man mountain in Gayle who seems unstoppable.
I think Ashwin can get him though.
Facing RR is going to be a task at their home ground.
I hope we are not just homeground bullies
I believe in this team(though I won't agree with Saha's inclusion). I think we lost the match mainly because of rain. Considering the nature of the pitch, that match would have turned, who knows! No need to press the panic button as we have killer ability to come on top during crunch situations. I remember we haven't qualified for semis easily on all 3 seasons, same with this season too. To peak at the right time is more important. I trust MSD that he knows how to win a game...it backfires only few times.Vijay has to be given chance one more time...
STOP the handwringing after every loss!! my god such knee jerk reactions..especially this golden one from Senthil above-"NO matchwinners in the team"!! Really? Hussey, Badri batting and bollinger, Ashwin in bowling not impressive enough for you? It is one thing to question the tactics and another to question the ability and performance. The tea strategy seems to be safety first- doing the same things but doing them efficiently-avoiding unnecessary risks like going for gold and ending with earthern ware(similar to what happened to India in WC earlier games). The probem with that strategy is it can be derailed by maverick big hitting-Valthatty and almost Sohail, or by rain interruptions. Advantage is, it has won us almost all matches we have won so far- not by one man shows like Haydos or Vijay or Raina. It might not be pretty to watch but it works and has except for that silly collapse against Mumbai. i am not a big fan of this strategy (somewhat south african) but it might be too late in season to turn around. Just playing decently from now on and winning two of our home games can get us into the semis. I am not ruling out winning against Royals tomorrow. RCB might be tough -hopefully it idoesnt turn out to be a quarter final!
Hi Robin,
I started following ur blog and I must say I like it very much.
Coming back to the game, I have a big concern regarding our strategy.We always go in with 7 seven batsmen.But despite having a long batting line up still we don't play positively in the first 6 overs.Very disappointed with vijay in particular. He pushes and prods at the crease and then gets out for a soft dismissal.Atleast ,if he is positive and goes for his shots that would get help him get back his confidence. Our current strategy will not work out against stronger teams.
@senthil we can't deny the fact that we have bunch of matchwinners. Raina, Hussey, Vijay, MSD, Ashwin, Bollinger are match winners on their day. I think, CSK are not in any danger of not qualifying. I am looking beyond the play-offs. I am dreaming the grand finale in our own backyard. We will be there, I reckon.
Sure CSK batting is not entertaining for spectators now
@senz I agree with your viewpoint. I assume even Stephen Fleming & other think tanks are not fond of this safety-first-and-accelerate-later approach, in a way they are forced to this strategy due to indifferent form of Vijay & Raina.
Haydos & Vijay was a killer combo, we can expect fireworks from both but not the same with Hussey & Vijay. We simply can't experiment our openers like MI doing. They has rock solid SRT at one end and more dangerous hitters to follow. The same approach can't be applied with our current CSK squad. we know MSD,Albie,Badri all needs few deliveries in the beginning to flourish.So waiting game is a need of the hour.Badly, we don't have big hitting Haydos and in-form Vijay.
Winning a match is more important than to entertain the crowd. Any cricket lover will second this.Unfortunately IPL is designed to entertain the crowd, common ckt fans are not ready to tolerate more classical approach. They wants Gayle, Sehwag like innings everytime. Even we have players like Raina & MSD...they play & deliver according to situation than to entertain the crowd alone.
Yes folks.... I guess i should have used proper word.... Yes we have fantastic players. But I mean the way Gayle plays, Shewag plays... I meant only them as Match winners. Guys who take opposition single-handedly. Well atleast I dont know a better word.
We seriously miss a match winner Haydos. Well his job has been handed over to Vijay. But he is yet to deliver and we see that. Imagine a game where our elect to bowl and our bowling fails. Then right from word GO we need someone to hit and utilize the powerplay. But CSK simply wastes that. We then end always just par or below par total. How is that going to be justified?
I feel replacement has become now become inevitable!
The only chance that Vijay should be given is the chance to sit out and admire his tattoos. Sometimes we need stand out individual performances that snatch the game from the opposition. This has been lacking. All other teams have bolstered their opening overs assault with aggression. CSK on the other hand have repeatedly gone with the same strategy. Every opener in IPL knows that he can step out to Morkel and make merry.
Ashwin seems to be losing the halo around him. Rahul Sharma of PWI has done a great job. Du Plesis will continue to warm the bench and we might see some desperation only when there is an imminent threat of elimination. Had not Dhoni woken up at the right time to hit 16 runs of the last over against Punjab, we would have been the cellar dwellers instead of champions. Definitely the need of the hour is matching winning performances by individuals. We cannot always expect every player to chip in as opportunities are limited, especially if you are in the middle order. We always need some players to regularly make big scores.
The slow and steady approach shows a lack of confidence in batting.
We are just too afraid to lose early wickets as we have no confidence in rebuilding after losing wickets. Bombay lost two early wickets against us but still recovered to post a huge score. This kind of confidence is lacking. This team is resembling teh RCB of first edition. A test team playing in coloured clothing. The failure to capitalize of the first six overs is not a deliberate strategy but a lack of skill. This is becoming very obvious.
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