A Must-Win Match Against Minnows!!!

Tomorrow Chennai Super Kings start their Champions League campaign against New Zealand Champions - Central District Stags. Chennai Super Kings could not have asked for a easier game than this. Stags - devoid of their international stars (Ross Taylor and Oram) are the weakest team in the tournament. A team that is banking on its young, unknown fast bowlers surprising others - should be easily tackled by Chennai Super King... provided they pick the right team.

Central Stags Squad:. 

BOWLERS

Michael Mason

Mitchell McClenaghan

BATSMEN

Brad Patton

George Worker

Jamie How

Matthew Sinclair

Peter Ingram

ALL ROUNDERS

Adam Milne

Brandon Diamanti

Doug Bracewell

Ben Wheeler

K. N. Barnett

Seth Rance

WICKET KEEPER

Bevan Griggs

Tim Weston

CSK - My XI 

1. Hayden 2. Vijay 3. Raina 4. Hussey 5. Badri 6. Dhoni 7. Albie Morkel 8. Ashwin 9. Jakati 10. Balaji 11. Bollinger

My Prediction: Unless Fleming & Dhoni make some foolish team selections, Chennai Super Kings should win the match easily. 

Thushara Out! Kemp In!

Because of the sudden injury to Thilan Thushara, Chennai Super Kings are forced to replace him with Justin Kemp. 


Squad: MS Dhoni (capt &wk), S Badrinath, M Vijay, Suresh Raina, R Ashwin, Shadab Jakati, A Srikkanth, L Balaji, Muttiah Muralitharan, Michael Hussey, Doug Bollinger, Justin Kemp, Albie Morkel, Matthew Hayden, Joginder Sharma.

Who should be retained for IPL4?

Finally IPL Governing council have decided on the player retention policy. 

Player Retention Policy

1. Only 4 Players can be retained by any team
1. Out of 4 players, maximum 3 Indians and a maximum of 2 foreigners are allowed. 
2. Retained players must have been part of IPL Season 3 and would not be part of the auction
1. For a player to be retained, both the player and franchise have to agree.
3. Irrespective of the fee decided between the player and the franchise, the total franchise salary cap of 9 million dollars will be reduced by fixed amounts
1. $1.8 million per year for the first player retained
2. $1.3 million per year for the second player retained
3. $900,000 per year for the third player retained
4. $500,000 per year for the fourth player retained
4. So if a team retains the four players, it would have only 50% of the budget available - 4.5 Million USD

CSK Strategy

1. Dhoni & Raina are obvious choices for the player retention. I am sure CSK would put their best efforts to retain both these players

2. Albie & Dougie - Both these players have a very good chance of being retained. But their performances in Champions League would determine that. 

Why Albie/Hayden & Dougie are not obvious choices?

Because i expect the fee for the foreign players to be rationalized in this year's auction. 

Whom do you think Chennai Super Kings should retain?

New IPL League Format Sucks!!!

New IPL League Format

With the addition of 2 more teams, IPL Governing council was forced either to increase the total games to 94 or reduce the number of league games per team. Rather than picking one of these choices, the governing council went for a compromise and picked a rather idiotic and a confusing option.

How does new IPL League format works?

1. 10 Teams are divided into 2 groups - Group A & Group B - Each group with five teams
2. Each Team plays 14 games in the league stage


1. Each team in a group plays 2 games - home & away - against other teams in the group


1. So each team plays 8 games against their group members


2. Also each team in a group plays 2 games - home & away - against one of the teams in the other group


1. This is decided randomly. So each team plays 2 games against a randomly picked member from other group


3. Also each team plays other teams in the other group once.


1. It can be home or away. So each team plays 4 games likewise - making  a total of 14 games


3. Based on the league stage, all the teams are ranked in a single table. (Confusing??? What is the reason for then dividing to 2 groups???)
4. 3rd and 4th ranked team in the table play against each other for a place in the semifinals
5. 1st and 2nd ranked team play against each other for a direct entry to the finals.
6. Loser of the match between 1st and 2nd plays the winner of 3rd and 4th for a place on the finals.. (Who came up with this?)

A format that truly gives a new meaning to the word "Knockout stage". Surely none other than IPL bosses can come up with such a foolish system.

Pick Your XI For CSK Champions League Squad

Only 6 more days to see Chennai Super Kings on the field. The team would be opening the campaign with a match against New Zealand Champions - Central Stags. Considering hard & bouncy South African pitches, priorities of team selection vary from selection @ India.  

My Pick - XI

1. Hayden - Though he failed in IPL3 and has not played a competitive game for the last 3 months, he is the best choice to open CSK Innings in South African pitches. Expecting to see a little mongoose magic. 

2. Vijay - South African pitches are bound to test him. And Fleming would be tempted to play experienced Parthiv ahead of him. 

3. Raina - Expect all the teams to test him with short balls. Would be Interesting to see his reaction and his strategy. 

4. Hussey - In my opinion, the most crucial batsman in the line-up. His innings would be crucial in low-scoring games.

5. Albie - Most crucial player in the line-up. If he is not in the best of the form, we can forget winning champions league this time

6. Dhoni - Hopefully, he would stick to No:6 and uses himself mostly as a pinch-hitter. 

7.  Badri - Might become crucial in low scoring games

8. Ashwin - Would be leading the spin attack for the team. Considering the pitches, picking Murali might not be a wise decision

9. Shadab Jakati/Thushara - Based on the pitches, it would be wise to pick Jakati or Thushara

10. Balaji - I am sure South African pitches would be aiding him more than Indian pitches. Weakest link in the line-up. If he is not performing, the team would be forced to pick Thushara ahead of either Hayden or Hussey. 

11. Dougie - Entire Expectations of the bowling unit rests solely on him. Would be interesting to see whether his performances can convince the team management to retain him. 

Knowing Fleming & Dhoni, they might be inclined to pick Parthiv as a opener and may pick Thushara as a fifth bowler and choose not to pick Hussey/Hayden and Shadab Jakati/Joginder

P.S: To know the 15 player squad, please visit Chennai Super Kings CLT20 Squad.