The IPL 2023 is going to be more special for the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) than it had been last year. For two reasons: Chennai based franchise will return to play their home matches at Chepauk, which has now opened all its stands after redevelopment; and the Indian League 2023 is all but certain to be the last season for MS Dhoni as a player in the Indian Premier League .
The 41-year-old MS Dhoni had last year announced that he will want to bow out from the Indian League after playing at least one more season in front of the loving, adoring, passionate Chennai Super Kings crowd in Chepauk. Thala Dhoni would also like to leave with another Indian Premier League trophy – a 5th – for himself and for Chennai Super Kings .
After finishing 9th last season, Chennai Super Kings released some players ahead of the Indian Premier League 2023 auction while the likes of Dwayne Bravo and Robin Uthappa retired, and Chennai based club gained the services of the England Test captain and one of the leading all-rounders in the world: Ben Stokes.
As usual, Chennai Super Kings boast of a number of high-profile Indian and overseas stars, from whom the franchise will be expecting to deliver the goods. Chennai Super Kings also have a few players who fly under the radar but can do effeicient job and maybe even help them lift another Indian Premier League trophy.
Here are 2 underrated players who could contribute massively to CSK in IPL 2023:
Dwaine Pretorius
It will be big shoes to fill, and perhaps Stokes isn’t the right man to fill Bravo’s bowling shoes as a death-overs specialist with which Bravo became the Premier League all-time leading wicket-taker.
Not Stokes, but it is South Africa-retired South African pacer who is Chennai Super Kings best death pacer in the squad. In his debut Indian League season last year, he was impressive with the ball, especially in the death, but his numbers – 6 wickets in 6 matches at an economy of 10 – won’t show it.
Before retiring from international cricket, he was used as a death bowler by South Africa in T20Is, and in the leagues he features around the world, he’s recognised for his clever bowling variations – much like Bravo – and his lower-order hitting – again, much like Bravo. He has a vast experience of 196 T20 matches, all of which he will want to combine and help CSK in Indian Premier League 2023.
Shivam Dube
In what was a forgettable season in IPL 2022 for Chennai Super kings, he had a breakthrough season, even though he went a bit underappreciated for whatever Chennai’s fans got to cheer on about.
In IPL 2022, the left-hander scored 289 runs in 11 innings at a good strike rate of 156, including a career-best Indian Premier League knock of 95* against his former team RCB. He had a good T20 domestic season as well: helping Mumbai win SMAT 2022/23, he scored 186 runs in 8 innings, being dismissed only twice, attaining an average of 64, playing important cameos in the middle-order.
In an aging Chennai based club team filled with experienced and more renowned names, Dube the all-rounder could come out as the player that surprises everyone.
Chennai Super Kings (CSK) Full Squad for IPL 2023:
MS Dhoni (C), Ravindra Jadeja, Devon Conway, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Ambati Rayudu, Subhranshu Senapati, Moeen Ali, Shivam Dube, Rajvardhan Hangargekar, Dwaine Pretorius, Mitchell Santner, Deepak Chahar, Tushar Deshpande, Mukesh Choudhary, Matheesha Pathirana, Simarjeet Singh, Prashant Solanki, Maheesh Theekshana, Ajinkya Rahane, Ben Stokes, Shaik Rasheed, Nishant Sindhu, Sisanda Magala, Ajay Mandal, Bhagath Varma
