Chennai Super Kings need to shake off inconsistency

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A staunch believer in patterns wouldn't hesitate to back the odds on Chennai Super Kings winning their next game against Pune Warriors at the MAC on Thursday.

In their last five outings, Super Kings’ loss-win-loss sequence is startling to say the least. Nonetheless, it also tells a tale of inconsistency that the Chennai team has been grappling out this season.

After five games, the defending champions find themselves with their backs to the wall — a situation they aren’t too alien with.

Reeling from a similar spot of bother last year, Super Kings fought back brilliantly by nailing seven of their last nine league matches, which catapulted them to the second spot.

Remarkably, Super Kings’ charge towards success in the latter part of the tournament was spurred by a 25-run win against newcomers Pune Warriors at this very venue.

On Saturday, Jesse Ryder and Steven Smith helped Warriors cross the line against Super Kings. Dhoni and his men would be itching to hit back.

But a little bit of alteration will not hurt Chennai’s cause. M. Vijay’s failures have been hurting Super Kings no end. Dhoni would do well to consider the other openers in the squad.

Super Kings can take heart from the fact that they have recorded the highest total so far — a statistic that underlines their batting prowess.

Faf du Plessis, who will look to consolidate his rich form, will hold the batting together. In the bowling department, Doug Bollinger needs to come back in place of Nuwan Kulasekara.

Medium pacer Yo Mahesh, who played his first match for Chennai against Pune last week, should be persisted with for a couple of more games to see what he can bring to the table.

The Chennai whistles, which had grown louder and sharper post the dramatic victory against Royal Challengers Bangalore, have suddenly turned flat. It is time Super Kings found their bearings and not to leave it too late for a resurgence.

Meanwhile, Pune Warriors, who are currently moving about on the top tiers of the points table, have made a promising start.

They will once again back their robust opening pair of Ryder and Robin Uthappa to provide them with a solid platform. It could sound alarm bells for Super Kings even if one of these two gets stuck to the task.

Skipper Sourav Ganguly is woefully out of touch, however, Warriors’ middle-order looks settled with Marlon Samuels and Smith contributing handsomely.

The visitors have a decent batting line-up but it is not something that might scare the champions. By making early inroads, Super Kings can expose their opponents’ brittle lower-order.

Warriors’ bowling is their weakest link. After receiving a royal bashing at the hands of RCB’s Chris Gayle and AB de Villiers on Tuesday, Warriors’ morale will be not be at its peak.