IPL 2018: 6 problems that are plaguing CSK this season
Chennai Super Kings (CSK) have been far from clinical in their first three games of the season so far. All three of their games have been decided in the last over. They scraped their way to victory in first two games and fell agonizingly short by 4 runs in their last game against Kings XI Punjab (KXIP). On all three occasions, their bowling has let them down while their batsmen have toiled hard to push their team beyond the finishing line. Their players haven’t clicked in unison so far and their tactics of going with experience over youth in the auctions has drawn criticism from many quarters of the cricketing arena.
Here, we take a look at the plethora of problems that are glaring hard after their first three games.
#1 The Top Order
For the first two games, the CSK top order consisted of Shane Watson, Ambati Rayudu, and Suresh Raina and it looked quite settled though they didn’t click in either of the first two games. But an injury to Raina, CSK's batting pillar, disturbed the combinations with Vijay drafted in to open the innings against Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) and Rayudu coming in at no.3.
Vijay could not contribute much in the high-octane chase but deserves to be persisted with due to the kind of record he has in his previous stint with the Yellow Jersey. Rayudu is the most successful CSK batsman this season and will be itching to convert his good starts into big knocks. So not much of tinkering is needed at the top of the order and CSK will fare better by showing some trust in Vijay.