What do you remember from the Indian Premier Leagueseasons gone by? Yes, there have been a few special cricketing moments, but the overpowering memories of the IPL, for two very different reasons, have been the scandals and the Chennai Super Kings.
The scandals are the easy part. Every new season has brought some controversy – from the cheerleaders to the conflicts of interest to the money laundering to the flight of IPL Commissioner Lalit Modi to the Kochi-Shashi Tharoor sweat equity scandal to teams being terminated to the spot-fixing scandals of IPL 5 and 6. There has been simply no let-up. It has been unrelenting and in your face.
And then there is the Chennai Super Kings. They have reached five finals in six season. They have made it to the last four finals on the trot. They have the same skipper. The coach is a former player. The owner knows his way around. To this point, they haven’t fallen prey to any of the scandals either.
Dhoni and CSK have been steadily getting better. BCCI
Now, this is in stark contrast to other teams who have changed coaches, players, owners, venues – and there have been times when the teams themselves have been sold or shut down. No other team in the IPL has had the same captain since the first season – Chennai still do.
Chennai’s squad in 2008 included Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Srikkanth Anirudha, Ravichandran Ashwin, Subramaniam Badrinath, Michael Hussey, Shadab Jakati, Albie Morkel, Suresh Raina and Stephen Fleming.
In 2013, they are all still there. Fleming has become the coach and it helps that he understands and knows the team’s philosophy.
They have added players to the mix – Vijay joined the team in 2009, Bravo a few years later and Ravindra Jadeja came in the season before but it was about getting the right players for very specific jobs.
Indeed, the other thing that stands out is that Chennai simply don’t throw youngsters into the deep end. All the other teams bet on potential. CSK go with the tried and tested – their overseas players are Bravo (29), Faf Du Plessis (28), Jason Holder (21), Michael Hussey (37), Nuwan Kulasekara (30), Albie Morkel (31), Chris Morris (25), Dirk Nannes (36). With the exception of Holder and Morris, they are all experienced professionals.
They haven’t given chances to the youngsters either. They realise that they are playing in this tournament not to showcase potential but to win. Baba Aparajith (18), Akila Dananjaya (19), R Karthikeyan (20), Ronit More (21), Ankit Rajpoot (19) and Vijay Shankar (22) are all young and have potential but they still aren’t good enough in Dhoni’s book, So they warm the bench.
“We have shown consistency and loyalty in team selections. Moreover, the composition of our side and the kind of mix we have. The combination of selection policy, quality of players, their maturity and above all a good franchise, everything has been fantastic,” Fleming told reporters after the win against Mumbai Indians last night.
“We have been lucky to have had the same team for six years and have played only finals and semi-finals. We have been conservative in our approach and often been criticised for being boring. But in a tournament where results can be emotionally driven, we have had a solid base,” he added.
Simply put, in the world’s most volatile league, Chennai’s stability serves them well. They know where the buck stops and what it takes to win. They have a formula and they are sticking to it.
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