The thunderous opening partnership between Shane Watson and Faf du Plessis against Kings XI Punjab had in it an ominous ring for all teams that will play Chennai Super Kings during this tournament.
CSK won that match by the biggest margin so far in this edition of the IPL. Till then, MS Dhoni's team had looked like stragglers, hardly the team which had won the title thrice. In every department of the game, the team was falling short, but the most crucial was in the paucity of runs from the top order. In CSK's case particularly, the opening pair.
Murali Vijay, leaden-footed and insecure, was discarded after a couple of matches, but the big question about Watson's form remained. Pushing 40, the once dynamic all-rounder has been reduced to a one-dimensional player, as a destructive opening batsman. But till the match against Punjab, he looked tepid.
Before Watson hit form, CSK were getting runs in haphazard fashion. Apart from du Plessis, no other batsman had looked consistently good. Ambati Rayudu, Ravindra Jadeja, even Dhoni, had pitched in with useful knocks, but not good enough to win matches.
Runs from Watson's bat reduces the pressure on the middle and lower order. Dhoni can hold the middle order together for strokeplayers like Rayudu, Kedar Jadhav, Sam Curran and Dwayne Bravo to flourish.
Of course, all this is hypothetical, and it remains to be seen whether CSK can sustain the form shown in the previous match over the next few games to make their prospects of reaching the play-offs a reality. There is still some gap to cover where the bowling and fielding is concerned.
Where CSK appear to have sorted out their major problem - getting runs from Watson - their rivals tonight, KKR, have been creating crises for themselves with below-par batting and bowling performances. Perhaps more pertinently, in tactics.
What's been baffling is the batting order where in-form Eoin Morgan, peerless batsman in white ball cricket, is being held back till too late. Also, a fearless hitter like Rahul Tripathi, got into the thick of action too late in the previous match because he batted at no.8. He could be opening instead of out-of-form Sunil Narine.
When there's a problem of plenty - and KKR is loaded with amazing power-hitters - it can cause confusion. But this needs to be resolved if they are to make progress.
In this match CSK have the momentum, but KKR have a better bowing attack, and in fact are brimming with talent in all departments. They need to regroup swiftly, else they'd be sitting ducks for CSK.
By Ayaz Memon
