Aakash Chopra Names Three Biggest Challenges For MS Dhoni And CSK: The 2021 edition of the Indian Premier League is just around the corner and fans are waiting anxiously for the league to begin. Players from all the franchises are sweating it out ahead of the season to get back to their form. MS Dhoni-led Chennai Super Kings was the first IPL franchise to kickstart their preparations for IPL 2021.
While MS Dhoni and CSK’s fans will be hoping that the team wins the title for the 4th time, on other hand, Aakash Chopra believes CSK might slow off the blocks in IPL 2021. Well, former Indian cricketer and commentator, Aakash Chopra highlighted three major challenges MS Dhoni’s team may face this season.
Recently, in a video shared by Aakash Chopra on his Facebook account, Chopra said that most of CSK’s top performers aren’t in their best form as they haven’t played competitive cricket for quite some time and this can give them a huge problem in the start.
He claimed that four out of seven players don’t have good form and for them hitting the ground running will be a challenge. He said:
“The likes of Suresh Raina, Ambati Rayudu, Mahendra Singh Dhoni haven’t played either international or competitive cricket. Ravindra Jadeja has been out of action for a while due to injury. So, four out of seven top performers don’t have a good form and competitive cricket game time. They may play Robin Uthappa and Ruturaj Gaikwad who have decent numbers in domestic cricket. Faf du Plessis will also be fine. But what about the remaining four? That will be a challenge. Hitting the ground running is a challenge,”
Aakash also expressed his concern for CSK’s spin-heavy lineup, which might fail at Mumbai’s Wankhade Stadium, a ground that favors speedsters. CSK be playing 5 games at Mumbai’s Wankhade Stadium. Expressing his concern on the same, Chopra said:
“They have 5 matches in Mumbai. And in Mumbai’s Wankhade favors pacers more. Pacers take 70% of wickets here and spinners don’t have much to do. Chennai is a slight spin-heavy team and their fast bowling doesn’t have much heft… Also, when you play in Mumbai, you won’t have the privilege to take your time and play. If the team wants to score big – like a score of 180 – all the top batters need to hit continuously from the beginning. And that is something I see going against them. This first leg might hurt them badly and they might not start very well”
Furthermore, Aakash feels that CSK will have a good season if Suresh Raina, who didn’t play a single game in IPL 2020, will hit the ground running, else the team will struggle. He said:
“I would suggest CSK promote Ravindra Jadeja up the order and let him bat a bit more. Mahendra Singh Dhoni shall play well too. But Raina is the critical cog. If he hits the ground running, CSK will be fine. And if not, since he hasn’t played for quite a long time now, CSK, I feel, will struggle this season and that’s not a good thing,”
