The relationship between Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and the Indian Premier League (IPL) is well known, in part because of the team’s contributions. Just a few months ago, CSK returned to their home ground, Chepauk Stadium, to start making plans for the 12th edition. Fans rushed there in droves to see their favorite player exercise. The close camaraderie that the Men in Yellow have built over the years is also unmatched by any rival team.
However, the auction strategists have frequently erred in their calculations, which has occasionally hurt the team’s performance. There have been times when some CSK players have fallen short of their known capabilities and have been finally benched throughout the competition.
Worst Sign by CSK In IPL History
Tim Southee
Tim Southee made his IPL debut in 2011 with the Chennai Super Kings, yet he utterly failed to impress. He participated in 5 games, took just 4 wickets with an appalling average of 41.50, and had an economy rate of 8.73. His lack of success on Indian courses made his case appear weak, and he was released in 2012.
After being released from the CSK team, the speedster was selected by Rajasthan Royals in the 2014 auctions to improve their bowling lineup. However, the franchise suffered because of his presence because the pacer failed to record a wicket during the campaign. He was surprisingly kept for the upcoming season. He had been given a lot of encouragement, yet he still had trouble getting into a groove.
Despite playing for the Mumbai Indians and Royal Challengers Bangalore, Southee failed to make an impression. Despite the awful performance, the RCB (Royal Challengers Bangalore) decided to keep him for the 2019 campaign. If they decide to give me a longer run, it will be interesting to see how he does in the future season.
Scott Styris
Scott Styris, another Kiwi on the list, was renowned for his lethal finishes coming down the order and for supplying key overs. But in his lone season in 2011, he was unable to connect with the team. Given that he spent most of the game in CSK’s dugout, even the most passionate supporters would have forgotten about his efforts.
Styris was only able to appear in 2 games for the franchise and contributed only 5 runs. The fact that he just bowled one over and gave up 13 runs without picking up a wicket only served to exacerbate his predicament.
One can question the auction’s decision to even purchase Scott Styris. Styris’ contract was terminated because it was evident that he would not make a good addition to the club. After his release, he worked in numerous support roles, but he never again took the field to play for an IPL team.
George Baily
Bailey, George Bangalore Super Kings? Okay, sure. Bailey used to be a member of this illustrious group. In the beginning, CSK kept Bailey on for four seasons before ending his affiliation with the organization. From 2009 to 2012, CSK hardly utilized this skill, wondering why the team kept bringing him back. With them for a brief time, Bailey participated in just four games—one per season—scoring a pitiful 63 runs.
In 2014, he made a comeback to the IPL, captaining the Kings XI Punjab and successfully guiding them to their first IPL championship game. In addition, he continued to play well with the bat, amassing 257 runs from 17 games with a respectable strike rate of 135.26. Unsurprisingly, KXIP chose to keep Bailey on for another year.
Over the course of a year, his leadership abilities seemed to deteriorate but his bat performances stayed the same. The Rising Pune Supergiant, which is no longer in existence, scooped him up when he was released the following year. He failed to impress the management, though, and was let go from the team.
Jason Holder
It would not be inaccurate to claim that Holder was propelled into the spotlight by Chennai Super Kings. In 2013, the team selected him as a promising West Indian bowler with a towering physique and the ability to produce pace. Holder had every quality a fast bowler should have.
He only managed to pick up 2 wickets in his 6 games, failing to live up to the hype. After being released from CSK, he played for Sunrisers Hyderabad and Kolkata Knight Riders but failed to garner any attention.
According to his IPL career statistics, he only took 5 wickets in 11 games for an economy rate of 8.5. The West Indies cricket board supported him as a skipper across all formats until recently despite his subpar performances and belief in his talents.
Andrew Flintoff
The 2005 Ashes and the way the former England all-rounder caught Jacques Kallis in a Test series are synonymous with him. His contributions across the board have always been crucial to the success of English cricket. But nobody seems to remember that Andrew Flintoff used to play for CSK. All eyes were on him when he made his debut since he was anticipated to duplicate English efforts on Indian soil. The stage was prepared for him to enter and cause mayhem, but what happened next was, to put it mildly, unfathomable.
Flintoff was distributed throughout the field like a novice bowler. He could not do much with the bat and was quite pricey with the ball. He was obviously a shell of his former self, and it did not take CSK long to decide that enough was enough and to end Flintoff’s erratic IPL career.
Since that time, Flintoff has been unable to secure an IPL contract. Due to injuries, the all-international rounder’s career was further cut short after he eventually made debuts in boxing and singing. Recently, Flintoff was one of the key figures in the success of the 2019 World Cup.
