Former Chennai Super Kings all-rounder Sam Curran has revealed that the franchise won’t panic despite their poor start in the ongoing Indian Premier League.
The reigning champions have got off to a horrid start as they have lost their opening three matches. Apart from their second match against Lucknow Super Giants, the batting unit has been disappointing in two matches against Kolkata Knight Riders and Punjab Kings.
CSK could only manage 131 runs on the board against Kolkata Knight Riders in the season’s opener whereas they were bundled out for 126 runs against Punjab Kings at the Brabourne Stadium, Mumbai on Sunday to lose by a huge margin of 54 runs, which is their second-biggest loss in the IPL in terms of the number of runs. Chennai has been led by Ravindra Jadeja this season and he hasn’t been able to get the best out of his resources.
The top and the middle order have failed to get going for CSK, which has led to their downfall. However, CSK players have all the experience under their belt, and Curran, who has been part of the franchise’s dressing room, feels they won’t hit the panic buttons so early into the tournament.
Sam Curran said while talking to ESPN Cricinfo, “It’s a tricky one. Obviously, with the new captaincy of Jadeja, he’s probably not experienced that position. Chennai is a successful franchise. And, having experienced the dressing room there, the coaching the management, it is a very calm environment there. They won’t panic. They have the experience of players and coaches who know how the IPL works.”
On the other hand, MS Dhoni continued to bat in the lower middle order as the likes of Ravindra Jadeja and Shivam Dube are batting ahead of him. Former Indian opener Wasim Jaffer added that the former skipper doesn’t like batting in the middle order.
Jaffer added, “Dhoni doesn’t like to come at the top of the order. He wants to come at the back end of the innings. Shivam Dube is doing well for them at five. Ravindra Jadeja came in during the powerplay and it was not something new. When the top four fail, CSK are vulnerable.”
The former domestic giant added he is a bit worried for CSK as everything was going well for them against PBKS but their batting let the team down.
He concluded, “I am worried for Chennai because in today’s game they had everything going for them. They won the toss, and restricted PBKS to a gettable total. Also, they don’t have a leg-spin option and Moeen Ali hardly ever bowls.”
Chennai will next face Sunrisers Hyderabad at the Dr. DY Patil Sports Academy, Mumbai on Saturday.
