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Cricket PlayersAustralia great lands heavy blow on MS Dhoni-led CSK ahead of IPL 2023 opener against GT
Ahead of CSK's opener at the Narendra Modi Stadium, an Australia great has landed a heavy blow on Dhoni's men, exposing a big flaw in their squad.
Chennai Super Kings (CSK) will be kickstarting the proceedings for the blockbuster 2023 edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) when they take on defending champions Gujarat Titans in Ahmedadab on Friday. The MS Dhoni-led side will be hoping to put behind their forgettable 2022 season, where they had finished ninth in the table with 4 wins in 14 matches, and make the most of favourable Chepauk conditions with IPL returning to home-away format after two years. However, ahead of their opener at the Narendra Modi Stadium, an Australia great has landed a heavy blow on Dhoni's men, exposing a big flaw in their squad. (IPL 2023 Live Streaming GT vs CSK: When and where to watch Gujarat Titans vs Chennai Super Kings Live Online)
Injury has weakened Chennai's death bowling. They had earlier let go of Dwayne Bravo before the mini-auction in December while the young Mukesh Choudhary has been the latest victim of injury and hence has been ruled out of entire IPL. And, marquee all-rounder Ben Stokes, who was roped in for INR 16.25 crore at the auction, is likely to start off as a specialist batter, as informed by Mike Hussey, Super Kings' batting coach, owing to his knee injury.
CSK's three death bowling options remain in Dwaine Pretorius, spinner Maheesh Theekshana and replacement signee Sisanda Magala, fast bowler from South Africa.
Tom Moody, in conversation with ESPNCricinfo, opined that while at home CSK are sorted with 12 overs of spin on turning Chepauk conditions, death bowling will be a challenge when they travel outside Chennai. He hence feels that captain Dhoni will be making the most of the impact player rule in this matter to get the job done.
“No that is the big issue, their ability to shut teams down. I don't think it will be the biggest issue at home because of what we have historically seen which is turning tracks. You can expect at least 12 overs of spin looking at their side with Theekshana, Jadeja and Moeen Ali. So when it is requring a death bowler in those conditions, it is harder to score in the back 10 overs than in the front 10 overs. At home they are okay, but it is when they travel, outside Chennai, which will be a challenge without any player who stands out in death bowling. What they could do is look to use that sub rule with the overseas player depending on whether they are batting or bowling first,” he said.
Chennai also have Deepak Chahar, although he is coming back from a long injury lay off. Moreover, he has an economy rate of 10.32 in the back four overs in T20s in the last two years.
