Time for big bang

Chennai, March 22 

They made ‘Dad’s Army’ sound cool last year and defending champions Chennai Super Kings’ battle-hardened veterans are ready to prove that age is just a number when they take on Virat Kohli’s perennial underachievers Royal Challengers Bangalore in Saturday’s opening IPL encounter.

For Virat Kohli, it couldn’t be a bigger statement if his young side could start off with a bang at MS Dhoni’s ‘spritual home’, a task which will be easier said than done. CSK’s core team is the oldest in the tournament — 37-year-olds Dhoni and Shane Watson, 35-year-old Dwayne Bravo, 34-year-old Faf du Plessis, 33-year-olds Ambati Rayudu and Kedar Jadhav and soon-to-be 32 Suresh Raina.

Then they have two spinners with truckloads of experience — 39-year-old Imran Tahir and 38-year-old Harbhajan Singh, who have the ability to change the complexion of a game in just one over. Even the two out-of-favour India players, leg-spinner Karn Sharma (31) and seamer Mohit Sharma (30) are in their 30s. However when it comes to match awareness, the CSK players are second to none. The most consistent franchise of the IPL, who have always been in the top-4, are a formidable side at home with a slow turner and a vocal crowd complementing the quality.

While CSK are three-time champions, the Bengaluru franchise is probably the biggest underachiever despite boasting of some of the best names in its squad.

The outcome of Saturday’s game will depend on which team bowls better and holds its nerve as both the sides have players who can turn a match on its head in a jiffy. CSK’s Ambati Rayudu and Ravindra Jadeja will be keen to step up their performances and seal a spot in India’s World Cup squad. 

Envious record

CSK enjoy an impressive record against RCB, having won 15 matches and lost seven with one no-result. The hosts haven’t lost to their rivals since 2014. — PTI

2013 Match-fixing scandal: The most difficult phase in his life, says dhoni 

Chennai: Mahendra Singh Dhoni (above) has opened up about the 2013 IPL match-fixing scandal and the impact it had on the Chennai Super Kings on Hotstar’s new documentary. The two-time World Cup winning captain broke his silence in a docu-drama titled ‘Roar of the Lion’, which focuses on the scandal that rocked Indian cricket in 2013. “It was the most difficult phase in my life, I was never depressed as much as I was then. The closest was 2007 World Cup when we lost in the group stages. But all said and done, 2007 happened because we did not play good cricket. But 2013, the angle was completely different. People were talking about match-fixing and spot-fixing. It was the most talked about thing in the country,” Dhoni said in the first episode titled What did we do wrong? broadcast on Hotstar. Recalling the torrid time when insinuations and allegations flew thick and fast, Dhoni said fixing a match requires the involvement of the majority of a team's players. “My name also came up in the fixing scandal. They started showcasing in the media as if the team was involved, I was involved. Is it possible in cricket? Yes it is possible, anyone can do spot-fixing. Umpires can do that, batsmen can, bowlers can... but match-fixing needs the involvement of the majority of the players,” he said. In a trailer of the documentary recently, Dhoni had called match-fixing a bigger crime than murder. “The biggest crime that I can commit personally is not murder. It’s actually match-fixing because it doesn’t get restricted to me. If I’m involved in such a thing, it has a bigger impact. If people think a match is fixed because the outcome of a match is extraordinary, then people lose their faith in cricket. I don’t think in my life I would deal with something that is tougher than this,” he said.

Only BCCI can answer why I didn’t play IPL last year: Smith 

Jaipur: BCCI had acted voluntarily while banning Steve Smith and David Warner from the last edition of IPL on ball-tampering charges and the former Australian captain said that only BCCI can answer why it panned out that way. “I am available for all the matches and BCCI has to answer why I was not allowed to play earlier,” Smith said, taking a dig at the BCCI. Former Australian batsman Dean Jones claimed that Steve Smith’s elbow is “lot worse” as compared to David Warner's and hinted that it could play a part in team selection for the early matches of the IPL. — Agencies

Chennai super kings

Defending Champs 

Best show Winners in 2010, 2011, 2018

Captain MS Dhoni

Settled old-timers

The team looks relatively old, with no current international superstar, but it looked like that last year as well, when it won the title!

Strength 

It has a core group that has not changed — Dhoni, Suresh Raina and Dwayne Bravo, to name three. Add Ambati Rayudu, Kedar Jadhav, Sam Billings, Faf du Plessis, Ravindra Jadeja, and Shane Watson, and you’ve got a very strong team indeed

Weakness

They seem a bit light in the bowling department, and the withdrawal of the injured paceman Lungi Ngidi is a serious blow

Mumbai Indians

Fully loaded 

Best show Winners in 2013, 2015, 2017

Captain Rohit Sharma

Big hitters

The team from Mumbai has serious firepower, including captain Rohit Sharma, Quinton de Kock, Kieron Pollard and the Pandya brothers 

Strength 

Their strong batting and the leadership of Rohit Sharma, their captain in their three IPL triumphs. In bowling, they have Jasprit Bumrah, often called the world’s best late-stage bowler, apart from Lasith Malinga, Mitchell McClenaghan, Adam Milne and Jason Behrendorff

Weakness

None that is obvious, though Hardik Pandya has been suffering from an injury, while there are concerns that Bumrah needs rest

Delhi Capitals

Stragglers

Best show Third in 2012, semifinalists in 2008 and 2009

Captain Shreyas Iyer

Hopefuls 

The Delhi team has a new name and new ethos as it tries to break away from the disappointments of the past seasons

Strength 

Shikhar Dhawan, Prithvi Shaw, Shreyas Iyer and Rishabh Pant comprise a very strong top-order. Backing them are proven fast bowlers Kagiso Rabada, Trent Boult and Chris Morris from among their foreign stock. They also have Keemo Paul as a back-up

Weakness

What happens if their foreign quicks leave the tournament early? The homegrown fast bowling talent is not too strong

Kings XI Punjab

Under-achievers

Best show Runners-up in 2014, semifinalists in 2008

Captain Ravichandran Ashwin

Turnaround? 

The Punjab outfit seemed to have turned the corner in 2014, but it has finished 8th, 8th, 5th and 7th in the next four seasons

Strength 

Well, they do have Chris Gayle, who is backed by India stars such as KL Rahul, Karun Nair and Mayank Agarwal. David Miller, Moises Henriques and Sam Curran also bring in strong abilities with both bat and ball, and R Ashwin and Mujeeb ur Rahman are wily spinners

Weakness

Gayle must fire if the team is to do well. What if he fails? Then, they might also struggle to choose four foreign players in the XI

Kolkata knight riders

Consistent

Best show Winners in 2012 and 2014, 3rd in 2017, 2018

Captain Dinesh Karthik

Good run 

In the last eight seasons, KKR won the title twice, finished third two times, fourth two times, and fifth once. Time to win again?

Strong all around

They have strong all-rounders in Andre Russell, Carlos Braithwaite and Sunil Narine; in batting they have Chris Lynn, Shubman Gill, Robin Uthappa and Dinesh Karthik. Finally, KKR have wrist-spinners of the calibre of Kuldeep Yadav and Piyush Chawla

Weakness

Bowling lacks good pace options if the first-choice players get injured. Injuries have already ruled out Shivam Mavi, Kamlesh Nagarkoti

Rajasthan Royals

One-time wonder?

Best show Winners in 2008, 3rd in 2013

Captain Ajinkya Rahane

Return from disgrace 

Winners of the inaugural IPL in 2008, Rajasthan Royals have done little of note after that — except getting suspended for corruption

Strength 

In Ajinkya Rahane, Steve Smith, Jofra Archer and Jos Buttler, RR possess a potent batting force. And then they have Ben Stokes, among the top game-changers in contemporary cricket. And they have good pacemen in Oshane Thomas, Jaydev Unadkat and Varun Aaron

Weakness

Their spin bowling seems surprisingly weak, for a team mentored by Shane Warne. And is Rahane a good choice as a T20 captain?

Royal C Bangalore

Their time?

Best show 2nd in 2009, 2011 and 2016

Captain Virat Kohli

Will Kohli ever win it?

The Bengaluru outfit has possessed some of IPL’s biggest stars over the years, but the sum of its parts was never good enough

Strength 

RCB have the incomparable Virat Kohli and the peerless AB de Villiers — on paper, no one can match these two. Marcus Stoinis can turn any game, Nathan Coulter-Nile is a top paceman, Yuzvendra Chahal can be deadly in T20s, Moeen Ali can win a game with bat or ball

Weakness

Well, it seems that unless Kohli and AB de Villiers perform beyond their abilities, this team would not win the title. Can the two do it?

Sunrisers Hyderabad

Go one better

Best show Winners in 2016, 2nd in 2018

Captain Kane Williamson

Warner’s return

The runners-up from 2018, powered by David Warner, the Hyderabad team is expected to at least make the playoffs

Strength 

David Warner and Johnny Bairstow are match-winners, and they’re backed up by Kane Williamson, Manish Pandey and Vijay Shankar. Shakib Al Hasan, Mohammad Nabi, Rashid Khan and Bhuvneshwar Kumar have the ability to defend small totals in T20s

Weakness

Williamson has an injury, while Bairstow, Shakib, Nabi and Rashid could leave early to train with or play for national teams