Chennai Super Kings (CSK’s) journey to the IPL trophy was not easy. It was all about their hard work and dedication. After winning the IPL trophy for the third time they have proved that they are the real kings forever. It’s truly a dream come true.

We all know MS Dhoni as a master chaser, man who blooms in adversity, skipper who believes in emotional cryogenics and a wily strategist who not just talks of processes, systems and clinical build-ups, but creates opportunities to achieve targets thus set. His team, Chennai Super Kings (CSK), signifies his way of life. Two years in the dump and a phoenix-like rise to the top is no mean achievement. It is signature CSK, its signature Dhoni. The adversities were many. Iconic yellow jersey players had been wearing other team colours, thanks to the two-year ban imposed on CSK. Raina was captaining Gujarat and Dhoni had found and lost skippership of Pune. Not all were bought back but those who were, were carefully chosen with specifics in mind. They made for the core team which orchestrated most of the wins — Dhoni, Raina, Faf and Bravo. The new ones were added, like Harbhajan Singh from MI, to make up for the Ashwin gap. Shane Watson was assigned a specific purpose as was Rayudu in whose abilities there was faith, whichever spot he was envisaged for. Faith worked for CSK at many levels — the team’s faith in their skipper, the skipper’s faith in his squad, the management’s faith in winnability and, last but not the least, the fans’ faith in the yellow jersey. The team got only one match to play at its home ground but the fans travelled en masse to the adopted home in Pune making yellow the colour of the stands wherever the team went. This belief in the team, this trust, this loyalty is unique to CSK. The stunning fact is, none of the iconic players in CSK is from the home State and yet Dhoni is their one and only Thala and Raina their Chinna Thala!

So what is it about CSK that is so different from other teams? For one, it is a concept conceived with sustained thinking and impeccable forward planning with grey heads like Stephen Fleming and Dhoni getting together to talk cricket much in advance of the big show. In this edition, the odds were particularly high. The team was returning from oblivion, tasked to climb out from the well of the spot fixing ignominy without being thrown off gear. To suit the new dispensation, new strategy and play capsules were conceived and executed, one of them being the shift from slow spin attack to a seaming focus. Players got compartmentalised roles and they stuck to it. The clinical approach was inserted into everyone’s DNA and winnability became a uniform barometer of existence. That’s why the scorn around the white hair in the team did not result in fogginess of the mind. The 30s men brought experience into competition — Faf, Watson, Dhoni, Bravo and Raina – none of them young but all of them happening, cementing the fortunes of the team along the journey, often helping stunning comebacks in death overs, dwarfing oppositions as good and sound as Sunrisers Hyderabad with professional performances. Indeed, CSK is about ultimate turnarounds that none other team has been able to fathom. A presence in nine Finals and three championship points tells you why Dhoni’s team is the man among the boys.

Writer: Pioneer

Courtesy: The Pioneer

Chennai Super Kings (CSK’s) journey to the IPL trophy was not easy. It was all about their hard work and dedication. After winning the IPL trophy for the third time they have proved that they are the real kings forever. It’s truly a dream come true.

We all know MS Dhoni as a master chaser, man who blooms in adversity, skipper who believes in emotional cryogenics and a wily strategist who not just talks of processes, systems and clinical build-ups, but creates opportunities to achieve targets thus set. His team, Chennai Super Kings (CSK), signifies his way of life. Two years in the dump and a phoenix-like rise to the top is no mean achievement. It is signature CSK, its signature Dhoni. The adversities were many. Iconic yellow jersey players had been wearing other team colours, thanks to the two-year ban imposed on CSK. Raina was captaining Gujarat and Dhoni had found and lost skippership of Pune. Not all were bought back but those who were, were carefully chosen with specifics in mind. They made for the core team which orchestrated most of the wins — Dhoni, Raina, Faf and Bravo. The new ones were added, like Harbhajan Singh from MI, to make up for the Ashwin gap. Shane Watson was assigned a specific purpose as was Rayudu in whose abilities there was faith, whichever spot he was envisaged for. Faith worked for CSK at many levels — the team’s faith in their skipper, the skipper’s faith in his squad, the management’s faith in winnability and, last but not the least, the fans’ faith in the yellow jersey. The team got only one match to play at its home ground but the fans travelled en masse to the adopted home in Pune making yellow the colour of the stands wherever the team went. This belief in the team, this trust, this loyalty is unique to CSK. The stunning fact is, none of the iconic players in CSK is from the home State and yet Dhoni is their one and only Thala and Raina their Chinna Thala!

So what is it about CSK that is so different from other teams? For one, it is a concept conceived with sustained thinking and impeccable forward planning with grey heads like Stephen Fleming and Dhoni getting together to talk cricket much in advance of the big show. In this edition, the odds were particularly high. The team was returning from oblivion, tasked to climb out from the well of the spot fixing ignominy without being thrown off gear. To suit the new dispensation, new strategy and play capsules were conceived and executed, one of them being the shift from slow spin attack to a seaming focus. Players got compartmentalised roles and they stuck to it. The clinical approach was inserted into everyone’s DNA and winnability became a uniform barometer of existence. That’s why the scorn around the white hair in the team did not result in fogginess of the mind. The 30s men brought experience into competition — Faf, Watson, Dhoni, Bravo and Raina – none of them young but all of them happening, cementing the fortunes of the team along the journey, often helping stunning comebacks in death overs, dwarfing oppositions as good and sound as Sunrisers Hyderabad with professional performances. Indeed, CSK is about ultimate turnarounds that none other team has been able to fathom. A presence in nine Finals and three championship points tells you why Dhoni’s team is the man among the boys.

Writer: Pioneer

Courtesy: The Pioneer