One of the ‘dudes’ in the advertisement suggests -“Aaj kuch toofani kartey hain” (let’s do something adventurous today). All the other members of the group are up for the challenge, and they end up doing something which stuns the viewers. The ad would have been shot after several retakes to impress the viewers with the end product. But there is a group of men who believe entertaining viewers ‘Live’. Yes you guessed it right; they are the Chennai Super Kings. Their skipper is someone who could replace the star in the particular advertisement.
You can criticize them, you can debate against their form, but they still made it to the finals of the Indian Premier League. They have become the Australians of the Indian Premier League. Apart from the wearing the same colour jersey, their spirit to fight till the last ball, with each and every player giving his 100 percent, they have become an invincible side in the cash-rich tourney.
One of their team-mates reckoned th
at they had packed their bags ahead of the play-offs as they needed three results in their favour, something apparently not very possible. They were slightly out of form before the play-offs. The one man who would not have bothered about it is the man behind this terrific team’s success for long -- MS Dhoni. Lady luck once again blessed its favourite child, as all three results went in Chennai’s favour and they rushed into the play-offs.
Mumbai Indians had demolished Rajasthan Royals by 10 wickets before moving into the eliminator. It wasn’t a comprehensive win against the Royals as both Tendulkar and Dwayne Smith hit several shots in the air, which landed in no man’s land. Against the Super Kings, one has the rarest chance of error. Mumbai did well to dominate the initial four overs after which Mike Hussey and Badrinath stabilized the innings. Mumbai thought they had won the match and got complacent before MS Dhoni walked to the crease with a sword in his hand and such was his counter-attack that even before Mumbai could return to normalcy, Chennai had posted a mammoth total of 187 runs.
Lady luck had done its work again and it was time for Dhoni’s men to show what they are actually capable of. Mumbai Indians had the likes of Smith and Pollard but both of them were overshadowed by the presence of Dwayne Bravo who first batted like a champion smacking the Mumbai bowlers all over the park. He then bowled his quota of 4 overs and needless to say, was one of the most electric fielders on the field.
Delhi Daredevils had made the task much easier for the Super Kings by resting Morne Morkel, their best bowler of the season. It is a decision which will be debated for ages. They decided to play Sunny Gupta in place of injured Irfan Pathan. Again it is hard to make out why they didn’t play with Shahbaz Nadeem, not only because they needed a replacement as an Indian contingent, but because they were playing at the Chepauk, a turf where Chennai has been playing with three spinners over the last few years.
The strongest asset of this team is to capitalize on their opponent’s tendency to succumb under pressure. In their previous outing, prolific opener Sehwag’s off stump was uprooted out of the ground from a peach of a delivery by Ben Hilfenhaus. Delhi were chasing 217 runs and Sehwag decided not to open the innings, again a move which Sehwag will have to clarify for the rest of his life. With this move, Chennai took to the field with double confidence and routed the Daredevils without much ado.
Chennai posted a huge score for KKR to chase in the final, but it was a blinder from little known Manvinder Bisla which took the game away from them. Before the play-offs nobody expected Chennai to make it to the top four. They did so and stormed into the finals by defeating two formidable sides like Delhi and Mumbai. Even in the finals they played like true champions and made the local crowd very proud in a thriller of a match. They enjoyed their cricket right through the tournament, and Dhoni was a happy man in spite of being on the losing side.
Most of the decisions taken by Dhoni are criticized but they produce match-winning results. He underperforms in major tournaments and when everybody writes him off, he delivers in crunch situations and keeps surprising everybody with his super cool temperament. Of late, he has proved himself to be a big match player. And he leads by example when it matters the most. He not only provides freedom to his players, but also enthuses his side to play fearless cricket.
They could not make it three in a row and in spite of that Chennai Super Kings will continue to remain one the favourites of the cash-rich tournament in the upcoming seasons, because of their cool temperament, because of their never-say-die spirit, because of their terrific all-rounders. And last but not the least, because they are led by a man, who does magic with his flawless, incredible decision-making skill.
