What was Ross Taylor doing at number 8?

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Chennai are seemingly enjoying the fresh lease of life they got in this IPL and by the look of the team on Wednesday it is very clear that they want to make the most of it. The message was made even more clear by the captain of CSK himself.

He played a knock which not only subdued Mumbai on that day but also sent out a very clear message for the coming games.

I have always cherished Dhoni’s power-hitting in this type of formats and strongly believe that he is very dangerous when it comes to the shorter versions of the game.

What he did with that knock on Wednesday against Mumbai was not only taking his team’s total to a commanding situation but also sending out signal to the remaining opponents that he means serious business in the knock-out phase.

One more signal also went out, that teams winning the toss in the next few games will surely bat first and not put Chennai in.

Chennai’s bowling balance has been somewhat bettered with Hilfenhaus coming in. Hilfenhaus, Albie Morkel, Bravo along with Ashwin, Jadeja, Jakati, Raina gives Chennai a fair bit of mix and lot of option to the CSK skipper. But Dhoni’s worry has to be more with his batting department.

Raina has not fired big till now, Vijay, Badrinath, Hussey has been patchy and even the captain himself was struggling before the knock he played against Mumbai in the eliminator.

So Chennai will have to be on their guard against Delhi in the big match on Friday.

I have somehow not liked Delhi’s game plan in the last match against KKR. It was a crucial toss to lose but what was Ross Taylor doing at number eight? Why was Delhi so loaded with fast bowlers when you had every opportunity to play an extra-spinner in Van Der Merwe on that slow Pune wicket?

Why didn’t Viru bowl on that wicket? I am sure Delhi team management has definitely gone back to the drawing board and have asked themselves this questions.

I hope Delhi will have a good look at the wicket for the match on Friday. Against Delhi, I have a feeling, that Chennai will prefer to play on a slower wicket as that will suit their style of play more.

Viru’s form will be important for this match and he will need to fire at the top for his team. Once Viru does that it will lay a solid platform for others to build a score or chase down CSK.
(360 Corporate Relations).