Day of reckoning for Super Kings

KOLKATA: For two-time champions Chennai Super Kings, the final against the formidable Mumbai Indians on Sunday will not only be about avenging their defeat in Qualifier-1. It will also be a battle of survival for the IPL’s most successful team, which has been under fire due to the involvement of its team principal in the spot-fixing and betting scandal of 2013.

MS Dhoni. file photo

Sabi Hussain

Tribune News Service

Kolkata, May 23

For two-time champions Chennai Super Kings, the final against the formidable Mumbai Indians on Sunday will not only be about avenging their defeat in Qualifier-1. It will also be a battle of survival for the IPL’s most successful team, which has been under fire due to the involvement of its team principal in the spot-fixing and betting scandal of 2013.

The indictment of Gurunath Meiyappan, the son-in-law of CSK owner N. Srinivasan, in the scandal by the Justice Mudgal Committee is only one of CSK’s problems. The gross undervaluation of the franchise at Rs 5 lakh, when India Cements is paying a Rs 40 crore annual franchise fee to the BCCI, is CSK’s latest controversy. Then there’s also that small matter of the secret envelope containing the names of CSK’s high-profile cricketers who allegedly aided Meiyappan in placing bets by passing on team information to him. All this had taken the limelight away from their on-field performance.

CSK actually face a real threat of being scrapped next year, a subject which even the Supreme Court discussed, as a punishment for misdemeanours by its officials and players. The fear of CSK’s disqualification has caused considerable discomfort among their sponsors.

Need to win

Given these controversies, a victory in the final can divert the attention from CSK’s off-field issues and put the focus back on cricket. There are many ifs and buts involved, but one thing that binds the team together in IPL-8 is its on-field performance. They won six matches on the trot, only to lose their way towards the end before returning to their winning ways in Qualifer-2.

This will be the fourth time that Chennai and Mumbai will face each other this year. While Chennai beat Mumbai on the first occasion, Mumbai managed to return the favour in Chennai before thrashing them in the first qualifier. That defeat was bitter, and CSK will now look to settle the issue once and for all.

On paper, there is little to separate the two teams. But on form, Mumbai are the clear favourites, having won seven of their last eight games. For both teams, the openers would play a crucial role. CSK’s Michael Hussey struck a match-winning 56 against Bangalore the other night, and he’d want to carry on in the same vein. Similarly, Mumbai opener Lendl Simmons has scored a plethora of runs, 472 with five half-centuries.

The Eden Gardens surface is known to favour spinners. CSK’s R Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja and Pawan Negi have done extremely well, getting the wickets regularly and containing the batsmen. Mumbai’s Harbhajan Singh and Jagadeesha Suchith have complemented their fast bowlers by not easing the pressure.

CSK desperately want Suresh Raina to return to form. He’s the only batsman to score over 3500 runs in the IPL, but this year hasn’t been fruitful — he’s failed to cross the 400-run mark for the first time.

The two teams would also be banking on their star seamers Ashish Nehra and Lasith Malinga. Nehra and Malinga have taken the joint highest 22 wickets this season.

IPL-8 final tonight

CSK vs MI (8pm)

LIVE on sony six