Page 168 - IPL 2

The Chennai fans were left stunned. The Super faith his captain and team management had
Kings were playing like commoners; the walls of reposed in him. He played one of the best knocks

their kingdom had been breached. But the last of the tournament against the Rajasthan Royals
few years have taught us that you lose faith in at Centurion. All the bowlers were hit around

Dhoni at your own peril. Just when the fans had the park as Raina registered an ‘almost century’.
lost hope the team showed their real mettle, The scoreboard on the ground had Raina on 100,

getting on an enviable roll. They won their next Raina raised his bat and there was a confused
5 games in a row, and a total of seven of their applause around the stadium. The confused
remaining nine. applause was because most of the crowd had

him at 2 runs short of a hundred. Raina had

It was like a typical Dhoni knock, a slow start, been scoring so fast that he had probably lost
and then straight into overdrive. The bowling count. As it turned out, the crowd was in sync
started looking good, with youngsters like Jakati with the official scorers and the ground scorers

stepping up to the plate. had made an error. Raina, thinking he had his
century, and not satisfied with 10 boundaries

Off the field the Indian youngsters would hover and five maximums went for another heave,
around their magnetic captain. It’s easy to see only to be caught by Graeme Smith.

why – Dhoni or Mahi as he is fondly called is a
natural born leader and an instinctive captain. CSK made it to the semi finals after giving

He is a small town boy who the heartland sees their fans a few scares. They ran into RCB, the
as their son and their brother. team they had destroyed in the early stages

of the tournament. On paper Chennai were
On the flight up to South Africa when I asked the favorites, but as we know, cricket is never

him about the secret to good T20 captaincy he played on paper and almost certainly is always
replied instantly, “Instinct ! It is good to make a great leveler.
plans, but the format is such that the game can

change in a few balls and all plans are destroyed. The Super Kings had their South African march

So it comes down to adapting quickly.” halted in the semi finals. They chose the wrong
day to be barely competent and could not pull
But a captain’s instinct is only as good as the out anything spectacular. That moment of

player he picks to act on it. From the sixth magic, the inspiration burst. Bangalore went
game onwards the Super Kings were, well, through to the final and Chennai packed their

simply “Super”! bags and Sivamani his drums. But Dhoni and his
Super Kings are not the type to moan and groan.

Hayden hammered his way to the Orange Cap,
Murali, Balaji, Morkel and Jakati all got over a Rest assured they will be back with a vengeance

dozen wickets each. CSK also had an Indian in IPL 2010. You will see it on paper, and you will
young gun in Suresh Raina who delivered on the see it in the middle.

156 CHENNAI SUPER KINGS CHENNAI SUPER KINGS 157
suresh raina matthew hayden