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a t the time that MS Dhoni was bid for by options in Balaji and Gony who had marked his
India Cements, he was the only T20 world cup- arrival in the inaugural season. Not to forget
winning captain on the planet. that Lankan Legend, the smiling assassin
Muralitharan. The list just went on and on. No
It would not be the last clever bid the owners wonder than that the bright sunshine yellow
of the Chennai Super Kings franchise would of Chennai had eclipsed every other team in
make. As the inaugural auction came to a close Season 1, that is until they ran into Shane Warne
it was plain to see the master plan that they had and his loyal band of greenhorns!
in mind. They had decided that their foreign
players would be all-rounders, players who could At IPL 2009 in South Africa, Chennai like the
pull their weight in either department –batting previous year were looking solid. There was
and bowling. You would probably argue about never any hyper activity to them. That was the
Murali and Hayden. My answer would be: they calming affect of their captain cool in Dhoni. His
are both equal to two people in their respective philosophy was very simple - do not spend 10
disciplines; they do not need to attempt the units of energy when 6 will do the job. Optimum
other one. utilization of resources and conservation of
energy. Calm yet ruthless - was the Chennai
That Chennai liked the all-rounders strategy was Super Kings style. Former NZ captain Stephen
made evident in the second round of auctioning Fleming was still part of the team but had
when they dropped a cool million and a half taken on the role of coach. With such a brilliant
to acquire Andrew Flintoff. As we headed to tactician in the dugout, and another one leading
South Africa most cricket aficionados and fans the team on the field, it was easy to see why the
alike would have said that Chennai looked the smart money was on the Chennai Super Kings.
strongest team on paper.
Those punters though, must not have felt all
Their all-rounders department had some of the that smart after they saw Chennai’s start to
best world talent in Albie Morkel, Jacob Oram and the tournament. You see, as you well know,
Freddie. The top order had a marauding Hayden, cricket is not played on paper; it is played by
who was being the school bully kicking sand on 11 individuals who must become a cohesive
the face of the bowlers and stealing their lunch unit out in the centre. And despite Dhoni’s
money for good measure. It also was the only instinctive leadership, and the team bonding
team with two Indian test caped wicket keepers, well together, Chennai just could not get their
the captain and Parthiv Patel, the latter having act together. The team looked like a shadow of
rediscovered himself as an explosive opening their previous selves. They picked up a measly
batsman. The team also boasts of prodigious 3 points from their first five games and were
India talent the likes of Suresh Raina, with pace languishing around the bottom of the table.
m.s. dhoni
brett lee
150 CHENNAI SUPER KINGS CHENNAI SUPER KINGS 151
