Name: Chennai Super Kings- Captain: MS Dhoni
- Head Coach: Stephen Fleming
- Home Ground: MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai
- Squad members: 24
- Best result: Champions in IPL 2010, 2011, and 2018
- IPL 2020 result: 7th on points table
Until a couple of seasons ago, Chennai Super Kings was the most successful IPL franchise in history before Mumbai Indians went on to win IPL 2019 and 2020 as well. However, it remains a fact that CSK was and is the most consistent franchise in IPL history, having made the playoff stage in every edition except for IPL 2020 where they had a forgettable year, finishing 7th on the points table.
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There’s the frequent joke about CSK being the Dad’s Army but we honestly have no issue with that because these are the most experienced players in the league. And at the IPL 2021 Auction, we believe they made a very smart buy in Robin Uthappa who can become the game-changer for CSK in IPL 2021. He was a revelation for KKR but had a bad season with Rajasthan in IPL 2020 where he was batting in the middle order.
Uthappa is likely to slot back in as an opener where he is at his best and we think he can easily double his tally of 196 runs scored in 12 games for RR in IPL 2020. He will open with Ruturaj Gaikwad who is one to watch out for in the future not just in IPL but in Indian cricket too. After failing in his first few games, he smashed 3 consecutive fifties and we think Uthappa-Gaikwad will be a good pair up top! You can bet on either of them to be CSK’s top scorer in IPL 2021!
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This also means that the likes of Faf du Plessis (449 runs in IPL 2020) and Ambati Rayudu (359 runs in IPL 2020) will back in their natural positions in the middle order, somewhere they will be more comfortable. After that dismal performance in IPL 2020, CSK is now looking much more confident coming into the IPL 2021 season. To add to this, they have Suresh Raina, one of the top IPL players in history, returning to the squad.
This year, they have made a jersey change for the first time since IPL 2008 and this comes with team changes as well. They’ve released Harbhajan Singh and Shane Watson among others and a notable buy was Cheteshwar Pujara who returns to the IPL after many years, but he doesn’t make the best playing eleven yet. The very experienced Dwayne Bravo is in the squad but we don’t see him being a big contributor either.
Hence, CSK have got backup all-round options. Sam Curran is going to be one of the biggest players for CSK and he proved that last year too. Only recently, he scored 95* batting at number #8 for England against India and this is an added bonus apart from his bowling skills. We think Ravindra Jadeja is a must have in every fantasy team you make while Krishnappa Gowtham is the x-factor player, who they paid big bucks for at the IPL 2021 Auction.
CSK – IPL 2021 Betting
In the domestic circuit, we’ve seen K Gowtham smash a century with the bat and pick up a 7-fer with the ball – IN THE SAME GAME! That’s the level of talent he brings into this side. With Faf du Plessis and Sam Curran having cemented their places, the other 2 will have to be made among 6 overseas options. We don’t think DJ Bravo makes the best eleven while Josh Hazlewood recently pulled out of the IPL 2021 season itself.
That boils down to Lungi Ngidi, Mitchell Santner, Imran Tahir and Moeen Ali for the final two spots. With the batting unit more or less solid at the top and plenty of all-round options as well, we think CSK may opt in for specialist bowling options in Tahir and Ngidi but the other two are also very versatile players, so there’s plenty of options for them this season. In fact, they may not even require an overseas replacement for Hazlewood!
CHENNAI SUPER KINGS IPL 2021 squad: Suresh Raina, MS Dhoni, Narayan Jagadeesabn, Ruturaj Gaikwad, KM Asif, Karn Sharma, Ambati Rayudu, Deepak Chahar, Faf du Plessis, Shardul Thakur, Mitchell Santner, Dwayne Bravo, Lungi Ngidi, Sam Curran, Ravindra Jadeja, Imran Tahir, Robin Uthappa, Moeen Ali, K Gowtham, Cheteshwar Pujara, M.Harisankar Reddy, K.Bhagath Varma, C Hari Nishaanth, R Sai Kishore,
Josh Hazlewood, Jason Behrendorff.
They were down and out last season but if there’s anything we know about MS Dhoni, it’s rising from the ashes when least expected. He drills that attitude into this team and since it’s likely to be the last hurrah for MSD, we think there’s a good chance for them to go all the way in IPL 2021; a playoffs’ berth is sure while they could go further to win it too. For all updates on CSK’s run in IPL 2021, stay tuned to ReadScoops.com…
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