Shameful Performance from Chennai Super Kings

Two easy points lost. A Shameful performance from the batsmen and the team. A Match that clearly showed why Dhoni is crucial for the team.

Positives:
1. Bowlers: It was a commendable performance from the team to keep Kings XI Punjab under 140. Except for Gony, everybody else bowled beautifully. Murali was surely the pick of the bowlers.
2. Parthiv: Though Parthiv's slow strike-rate was one of the key reasons for Chennai making such a huge mess of the run-chase, it was good to see him among runs. It should give him a little bit of confidence.

Negatives:
1. Middle Order Batsman: Hope somebody drills a little bit of wisdom to all middle order batsman. I am still not able to comprehend how the team lost the run chase from such a strong position. If you know why, please write in the comments
2. Casual Attitude: Right from the toss, the team had a very casual attitude towards the game. e.g. Not Rotating the strike enough. Forgetting the simple lesson that Singles still win matches
3. Gony: He can't bowl. He can't catch. He can't field. He can't bat. And still we find him in the team. His six balls where he swung the bat rather than playing intelligently was the key reason for the defeat. Please I don't want see him in the team sheet ever.

Last Season Surprise Super Kings Star Gony is Ready

Last year, Manpreet Gony emerged out of blue moon and wearing the yellow uniform, showed his potential. In the process, he also won the hearts of every Chennai Super Kings Fan. was surely one of the most amazing success stories of the first Indian Premier League and a story that stands as a testament to the entire IPL Concept especially considering the history of Gony. [Read the real life story about a loving husband and a heart broken parent and why I want Gony to succeed]. Yeah, He also won all the hearts of Chennai Super Kings Fan during this period.

Will Meet Huge Expectations

But this year we all have huge expectations from Gony and the Mohali pacer is well aware of that fact. He has promised that he will try to do better, both in terms of his own bowling and congtributing to the team's success.

Thank You Dhoni

Gony believes that Gony's trust in the team made a huge difference in the last year “That was the turning point. Dhoni had so much trust in me — I was an unknown player but he made sure I didn’t feel that way,” he says, adding, “I am in touch with Dhoni in New Zealand too.”

Hope Gony & Dhoni Combo wins a few games this season. I am sure choosing between Tyagi and Gony is going to be a huge headache for Dhoni & Fleming.

News Source: Indian Express

Chennai Super Kings Training Session Begins

While the other teams are still undecided on various things, Chennai Super Kings team has begun its final preparation for IPL extravangza. The team started its initial training session yesterday. Chennai SuperKings (CSK) Trainer Gregory King and seven chennai super kings players - Suresh Raina, Parthiv Patel, Joginder Sharma, Manpreet Gony, Sudip Tyagi, Shadab Jakati and S. Anirudha started their training session at Chepauk. Thanks to the semi-finals of the first division league, the other players missed out on training session. They are expected to join the training session this week.

Direct from the Training Session

Wisdom of King

Gregory King believes the pleasant weather in South Africa during this time of the year could provide some relief to the teams as they grapple with a gruelling schedule in the Indian Premier League (IPL).

Back from Injuries

"The cricketers appear to be in good shape" said King. Pacemen Joginder Sharma and Sudip Tyagi are returning from injuries, "Joginder had an injury to his heel and, so far, he has looked good. Tyagi has come back from a stress fracture of the back. I think he has recovered well," he said. [Just hope Jacob Oram also joins this list]

CSK Starts its Tour on April 8

The cricketers will train till April 3 and the second training session will start on April 6. Chennai Super King are planning to leave for South Africa on April 8.

News Source: Hindu

For regular updates about Chennai Super Kings, please enter your email address below

News Snippets

Million Dollar T20 Champions League announced

Though while the fans of most of the other teams have to wait for a whole year to see their team again, we will see our team competing against the World's best T20 teams in T20 Champions Leage. Finalists of T20 tournaments in Australia, South Africa, India and England would be competing against each other for the title. Most probably, the 4 overseas player rule would be removed but we may still miss the services of Hussey and Morkel due to their domestic commitments.

[Source: Cricinfo]

Gony in Indian ODI Team
Chennai Super Kings' front line bowler Manpreet Gony will be joining the Indian ODI team for the tri-nation Bangladesh series on the back of an injury to Sreesanth. Gony has been one of the major finds for Indian cricket from the recent IPL series.
[Source: Cricinfo]

Financial Performance of IPL Franchisees
This Economic Times article gives a perspective of how good the franchisees were for their owners. Kolkata Knight Riders and Rajasthan Royals are the only teams in the black. Chennai Super Kings made a net loss of Rs. 5 crore. But missing from this analysis is the amount of goodwill generated for each team and the players' valuation, which would put CSK in a better position.
[Source: Economic Times]

Gony - A Loving Husband and A Heart-Broken Parent

Manpreet Gony has impressed one and all by his performance at Indian Premier League. For a novice bowler, who hardly had any first class experience, he has lead the CSK bowling attack with aplomb. Not only that, he has also won a match for Chennai Super Kings with his bat. A man, with a big heart and a great attitude, he surely has a great future before him. Times of India in its article - aptly titled - "The ecstasy and Agony of being MS Gony", reveals his personal side that you will never hear from him again.

A Few Excerpts from the Interview:

"As he stood alone in a Delhi hospital, clutching the lifeless body of his baby, the light seemed to have gone out of his life."

"When a father holds the dead body of his son, the other things in life become insignificant. I was selected to represent PCA in the Buchi Babu meet within seven days of this tragedy. I went as it was my maiden call-up, leaving my wife behind"

"I was frustrated as I was taking wickets in club cricket consistently but was not being considered for selection. I was thinking about leaving but my wife insisted that I should just carry on. Those were hard days"

"I still don't have a job. I used to earn peanuts playing club cricket. My wife sustained the family"

"I snapped all ties with my parents as they were never nice to my wife"

"I want my wife to take the Civil Services entrance test"

News Source: CSK Fan Club

P.S: On reading the personal experiences of players like this, I thanked Modi & Co. for coming up with this concept.

And Thank you, Manpreet Gaur for standing-by Gony during those dark days... Was reminded of the old quote "Behind every successful man, there is a woman". How true!