The 2020 season of the Indian Premier League (IPL) was a season to forget for three-time champions Chennai Super Kings (CSK) as it was the only time when they had failed to enter the playoffs.
In order to start afresh and leave the painful memories of previous season behind, CSK looked at every possible way to strengthen their squad in the recently held mini-auctions, where they tried to bolster their spin attack considering the way Chepauk wicket plays.
However, their decision may now backfire as none of the eight team will play any home game in the upcoming season of the Indian Premier League (IPL).
In need of an off-spinning all-rounder, the Yellow Brigade bagged K Gowtham for Rs 9.25 crore, making him the most expensive uncapped player in league’s history, and also acquired the services of England all-rounder Moeen Ali. They already had spinners like Karn Sharma, Imran Tahir, Sai Kishore, Mitchell Santner and Ravindra Jadeja in the ship.
Significantly of the total 25 players in CSK’s squad, seven of them are spinners. However, after the Governing Council (GC) announced the schedule for the upcoming season, which will begin on April 9, it is clear that the MS Dhoni-led side will now play five games in Mumbai’s Wankhede, four in Delhi’s Kotla, three in Bengaluru’s Chinnaswamy and two in Kolkata’s Eden Garden.
Barring Kolkata, the remaining three venues have been batsman’s paradise as the wickets over there are flat and even the boundaries are very small.
The GC’s decision came as a jolt for the Yellow Brigade is evident from the fact that now the CSK franchise, who were holding their training camp in Chennai, is now seriously looking to shift it to Mumbai.
The upcoming edition is now just a month away and the CSK franchise will surely be a bit nervous after the GC’s decision.
With the circumstances now not in favour of CSK, it will now be interesting to see whether the charismatic captain, who is likely to play his last IPL, will be able to deliver as he has done over the years or once again his side will succumb in unfavourable condition.