IPL is now getting more intense as the bottom 3 teams have started winning the matches and are looking in their deadly form now, and the most interesting part of this is that SRH, MI, and CSK are going to play against each other in the coming week. So, entertainment is guaranteed in the upcoming week of the Tata IPL.
Chennai Super Kings (CSK) won the match against Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) quite convincingly and got back their original form. CSK won their match by 5 wickets, and the player of the match was none other than the man, the myth, the legend, Mahendra Singh Dhoni. He scored 26 runs in just 11 balls. It was surprisingly a black soil pitch in Ekana Stadium, but it was not as slow as it was expected.
Where can LSG Improve?
LSG is currently at no.4 in the points table, as yesterday's match did not affect the points table. LSG is performing inconsistently with 4 wins in 7 matches, which is not bad, but is not good either. They won their last 3 matches, and everyone thought that they were very well back on track, but they still need to improve a lot in all the departments.
- Dependence on Foreign Players: Lucknow's top 3 are Marsh, Markram, and Nicholas Pooran. These 3 players have scored more than half of the runs for the team. Pooran currently holds the orange cap with 357 runs, Marsh is at no.3 with 295 runs, and Markram is at no. 11 with 208 runs. No other batter has even crossed the mark of 150 yet for the LSG. Let me give you a very interesting data, LSG in this IPL (as of now), has scored 1,366 runs, and 860 runs are scored by these foreign batters. Depending on foreigners on Indian pitches sometimes turns risky, as it happened yesterday.
- Rishabh Pant's Captaincy: He is a mediocre captain, but he was hyped so much before the start of the IPL. I will just give an example here that Shreyas Iyyer took the Delhi Capital's in the final in the year 2020, then Rishabh Pant took the captaincy, and Delhi managed to reach playoffs only once under the captaincy of Rishabh Pant. Taking yesterday's match into consideration, he would have given the ball to Ravi Bishnoi when Dhoni arrived at the crease. Everyone knows Dhoni's weakness against leg spinners, and Ravi Bishnoi had already taken 2 wickets with an economy of 6 in his 3 overs, which was great.
- Inconsistent Performance from Fast Bowlers: Shardul Thakur, Akashdeep, and Avesh Khan, all of them are great bowlers in T20 cricket, but they are not performing consistently. This headache may get away as, according to some sources, Mayank Yadav has been declared fit to play matches for Lucknow. The main question here is who will be making place for him in the playing 11.
CSK's Way Forward
Even after winning yesterday, CSK is still at the bottom of the points table, with only 2 wins in 7 matches. To qualify with 16 points, they still need 6 wins in the last 7 matches, which seems to be almost an impossible task, but can be achieved like RCB did last year.
CSK's bowling is now looking on track now Khaleel and Anshul are giving a fabulous start with the ball, followed by their spinners Jadeja and Noor Ahmed. Noor is such an improved bowler now, he is not desperate to get wickets, he just bowls at good lengths and does his job well for the team. He didn't get any wickets last night but was economical, giving only 13 runs in his 4-over quota.
The main concern for CSK is their batting; they are not the marksmen in their batting. Rachin is unable to attack, Rahul Tripathi is struggling with his form, Dube is not quite up to the mark, and Jaddu is failing consistently in batting. Dhoni's finishing touches are the only positive thing for CSK in batting. The addition of Shaikh Rasheed to the team might prove to be a great decision.
Overall, it was a great match, with more passing days, the IPL is getting more interesting, and more thrilling matches are on the way. The points table is getting more and more intense, and every upcoming match will decide the fate of the teams.
About the Author
Advait Kadam is a sports writer at Vygr Media, specializing in cricket coverage and match analysis. With a background in Sports Management and a passion for storytelling, he brings sharp insights and fresh perspectives to every game.
With inputs from agencies
Image Source: Multiple agencies
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