The IPL 2024 is going on in full of thrills and excitement. Last year Champion Chennai Super Kings started the IPL 2024 campaign facing Royal Challengers Bengaluru. The start was perfect. After that, they defeated the Gujarat Titans at M. Chidambaram Stadium. After those excellent wins, their run stopped as they faced two consecutive defeats. After that, questions are raised about their batting performances. In this article, we will explore the batting struggles of the CSK batters.
Gaikwad’s Struggle:
Before starting the season, Chennai Super Kings gave a big surprise. They announced Ruturaj Gaikwad as their captain. The talented batter was given a huge responsibility. Being an old member of CSK, Gaikwad scored 590 runs in the previous season of IPL. But the start of this season was not desirable. In the opening match of this league, he scored only 15 runs in 15 balls. His struggle with the new ball is clearly visible.
Against Gujarat Titans, he played a knock of 46 runs in 36 deliveries. The opener managed only one run from two deliveries against the Capitals in Visakhapatnam and followed with a cautious 26 off 21 balls at a strike rate of 123.8 against SRH in Hyderabad. Ravindra’s inability to provide momentum at the start has heightened scrutiny on Gaikwad’s anchoring role.
Stresses on Mitchell’s Role:
In New Zealand cricket, Daryl Mitchell is a responsible batter. For his country, he has played several match-winning knocks being a responsible middle order batter. Even in the World Cup in India, Mitchell performed exceptionally well. The way he handles spinners is truly commendable. After his amazing display in recent times, CSK management has shown faith in him.
But his role in CSK in the ongoing tournament has raised questions. In the previous matches, when Chennai struggled, Mitchell failed to deliver a responsible knock in a crucial situation. When the team needed him to score big, he walked away early. In this tournament, he scored only 93 runs in 4 matches. As a middle-order batter, he needs to convert his knocks to bigger ones to help the team achieve the desired success.
Jadeja’s Struggle:
In Chennai Super Kings’ lower order, Ravindra Jadeja is the king. Over the years, he has been the greatest finisher of the franchise. He has pushed the team to the winning total by just playing some attacking shots. But in this season, the attacking approach is a little bit faded away. In the last match against Delhi Capitals, Chennai was struggling and at that point, Jadeja came to bat. He played an unbeaten knock of 21 runs in 17 balls.
Though the knock was worth that situation, Jadeja needed to show some aggressive shots. He rotates the strike more than going for a big hit. Even against Sunrisers Hyderabad, his struggle continued. That is catching the eye.
Chennai Super Kings is one of the most successful teams in the tournament. They won five IPL trophies which is not a little thing. But this season, their batting struggle is grabbing attention. After winning two matches on home ground, they faced two consecutive defeats on their away matches. The tournament has just been started, a long way left. The team will have time to correct those things. Fans are anticipating another dominating year of Chennai Super Kings.
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