3 biggest issues for CSK in away matches in IPL 2024
The Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) beat the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) by eight wickets in the 34th game of IPL 2024 at the Ekana Stadium in Lucknow on April 19.
CSK have not been at their best on the road this season, having won just one out of the four that they have played away from home. At the time of writing, they are ranked in the third position of the league table with eight points to their name, with three of their four wins coming at home.
It appears as if some problems are creeping into the CSK camp especially when it comes to playing away from home.
In this listicle, we bring to you the three biggest issues for them in away games this season.
#1 Their seamers have not been at their best
In most away games this season, CSK's seamers have not been at their best. Be it in the game against the Delhi Capitals in Vizag, all their seamers except Tushar Deshpande conceded more than seven runs per over.
Deepak Chahar, opening the innings, conceded 10.50 runs per over while Bangladeshi seamer Mustafizur Rahman went at 11.80 in his four overs.
Matheesha Pathirana, who picked up three wickets for 31, went for 7.80 runs per over. Against SRH in Hyderabad, Chahar, Deshpande, and Mukesh Chowdhary all went over ten per over.
In Lucknow on Friday, of all their seamers, only Pathirana went at less than eight runs per over. This has proved to be one of their biggest Achilles heels when on the road this season.
#2 Their opening partnerships have not flourished
![CSK were beaten by LSG by eight wickets on Friday. [IPL]](https://statico.sportskeeda.com/editor/2024/04/04abc-17136123392449-1920.jpg?w=500)
Another constant that CSK have had when traveling this season is the lack of solid opening partnerships. Against DC in Vizag, their opening partnership lasted just one over while in Hyderabad against SRH, it lasted 3.1 overs.
In Lucknow on Friday, only four runs were on the board before the first opener Rachin Ravindra fell although in Mumbai, where they beat MI, Ajinkya Rahane got out with a mere eight runs on the board in the second over of the game.
If their openers do not flourish, it is going to be a big challenge for the rest of the batters to come in. CSK need solid opening partnerships when on the road.
#3 They have not put up big totals on the board
This point carries forth from the second point mentioned above. One of the reasons why CSK have not put up big totals on the board is because of the lack of solid opening partnerships.
The lack of stability at the top of the order has hurt CSK a lot in away games as there has not been anyone to play the sheet anchor's role.
The likes of Ajinkya Rahane, Rachin Ravindra and skipper Ruturaj Gaikwad have all interchanged positions in the top three but none have been able to string together a big partnership. This means that a lot of the burden falls on the rest of the batting lineup. This has resulted in them putting up minuscule totals on the board.
Against DC, they put up 171/6 in twenty overs while chasing 192 whereas against SRH, they scored just 165 in the first innings. Similarly, against LSG on Friday, they put up 176/6 on the board.
While these totals may seem respectable to some extent, in reality, they are not quite, with 200 being the new par in this season's IPL.