Chargers win a godsend for Super Kings

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Looks like MS Dhoni has not exhausted all his ‘luck’ cards yet.

Bangalore crashing to a defeat against Deccan Chargers was not according to the form book and the Bulls pulling off a sensational win has allowed a back door entry to the defending champions.

Chennai required a minimum of three matches to go their way to progress to the play-offs and they all did. It will be Chennai’s fifth straight entry to the final four stage of the IPL.

“We were hoping against hope to make the play-offs and this is remarkable. I am not saying this because Deccan Chargers helped us go through, they did bowl and field extremely well against a solid side. From here it is a matter of which side manages to play well on the given day,” said off-spinner R. Ashwin.

On his role in the play-offs, Ashwin said: "It should not be any different from what I have been doing all the time. The wicket in Bangalore has bounce and it will be a good challenge against Mumbai. Having advanced in this fashion we will be expressing ourselves more freely.”

Former Tamil Nadu coach WV Raman who has played a pivotal role in the growth of many Chennai players noted that the champions will be the team to beat from here.

“For starters they know exactly what to do because they had already been here and handle pressure better than any other side. In Albie Morkel, Dwayne Bravo and Dhoni they have three of the best ball strikers and that makes Chennai a potentially dangerous unit,” explained Raman.

S. Badrinath, who was forced to miss the last three matches owing to a viral flu, cannot wait to get back to the thick of things.

“I did not move from my chair throughout the Chargers-RCB match. Really happy that we are there in the play-offs and looking forward to give it our best shot in order to earn a chance to play one more game in front of our fantastic fans at Chepauk,” said Badri.

With S. Anirudha ruled out of the play-offs after his on-field injury in the game against Kings XI, Badri’s return looks a certainty.

In a season where most of Dhoni’s tactics were questionable, Chennai were not really favoured to book their berth in the playoffs. It has taken the effort of other sides to put the Chennai Super Kings in the position they are in. The die hard Chennai fan will however be hoping for a turn around from the big guns who have not necessarily done well in the league stage.