Ticket booking started for the MI match..
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Ticket booking started for the MI match..
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Super Kings – a batting powerhouse
Even as the helicopter shot soared, the protagonist in the middle took flight at Chepauk. Like the blades of the flying machine, the stroke encapsulated power, speed and a distinctive sense of rhythm.
The strength of Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s dexterous wrists, the velocity of his bludgeoning bat, and the sight of the gravity-defying ball gaining height created a cricketing beat of vibrancy and inventiveness.
The crowd held its breath and then erupted. The stands were a blaze of colour. Skipper Dhoni will be in the thick of things again as Chennai Super Kings (CSK) begins yet another quest in IPL-VI. His versatile unit will once again feature among the top contenders.
Good record
CSK, without question, is the most successful franchise in the IPL. In the five editions of the IPL, the side from Chennai has triumphed on two occasions, reached the summit clash twice and made it to the semifinal once.
It is also the only team to have won the Champions League away from the subcontinent. CSK emerged victorious in South Africa in 2010. This is an outfit with depth and options.
The CSK, though, will be without the dynamic Faf du Plessis. The top-order batsman will miss the league phase owing to fitness concerns. This suggests the side would open with the in-form Murali Vijay and the left-handed Michael Hussey, the one batsman Australia missed the most during its disastrous Test campaign in India.
CSK has the batting might with the strokeful and often game-changing Suresh Raina blending with S. Badrinath’s solidity and the long-distance hitting of pace-bowling all-rounders Albie Morkel and Dwayne Bravo.
And in Dhoni, the Chennai side possesses one of the deadliest finishers in the abbreviated form of the game. This side is a batting powerhouse.
CSK also has two impact spinners in R. Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja; this off-spin-left-arm spin pair hounded the hapless Aussies in the Test series and can prove a handful in the shortest form of the game as well.
Hope I get a game for CSK: Dirk Nannes
CHENNAI: Dirk Nannes is Chennai Super Kings' new pace spearhead. It's still two weeks to go before the IPL starts, but the 36-year-old paceman is already in the city, looking to get acclimatized to the conditions.
Nannes, who lives in England, has played international cricket for The Netherlands (his parents are Dutch) and Australia and is part of a new breed of globe-trotting franchise cricketers, is looking to fit into the slot that has been left open in the CSK team following the departure of Doug Bollinger. During an exclusive chat with the TOI on Friday, Nannes talked about his CSK ambitions and much more.
Excerpts:
You're here pretty early with the rest of the squad expected over the next week?
Yes that's because I live in England and this time of year there's no cricket there, so there's no place to bowl and train. I'll be doing that now that I'm here. Until the rest of the guys get here I'll be working in the gym and start bowling.
Did you follow the auction? It seemed like CSK were willing to get you at any cost...
My wife was actually following the auction and I was following it through her. The thing with the auction is that sometimes even good players don't get picked up so you never know. I'm just happy that I got picked up by CSK, one of the best sides over the years.
CSK has strengthened their pace attack this season. Do you feel there will be healthy competition for spots?
Yes, the side has a few more pacers this time. I just hope I get a game. On paper it looks to be a great side.
It looks like you will be doing a role that Doug Bollinger did very effectively for CSK for a while...
I suppose it's a like-for-like replacement given that we're both left arm-pacers . But every team has a real quick bowler at the top. I guess I'll be doing what I usually do, which is bowl a couple of overs with the new ball and a couple in the death or maybe even one in the middle.
So are you looking forward to working in the CSK set-up?
I'm obviously looking forward to working with MS (Dhoni). I've played with Mike Hussey and he's a great guy. Faf (du Plessis), too, although he's out with an injury for the first four weeks.
You've played in the IPL before for Delhi Daredevils and RCB. Does that experience help?
It does. The IPL itself is such a unique tournament and it takes a while to get used to but once you've done it a couple of times you get used to it.
The internet says apart from being a professional cricketer, Dirk Nannes speaks Japanese, plays the saxophone and has been a competitive skier. How much of that is true?
But for the 'speaks Japanese' part (laughs), most of it is true. The Japanese thing was because of a small mix-up during one of my early interviews. I enjoy skiing and started playing cricket professionally quite late. Unlike most players I haven't been through the whole under-15, under-19 sort of thing.
How does the fact that you started so late change you as a cricketer?
I guess you realize that there's more to life than cricket. A lot of guys when they have a bad day on the field, it tends to affect them off it as well but not for me.
You're one of the many players now who travel the world playing in different leagues. What's that experience like?
I love what I do. The tricky part is because I don't really have a home ground or a base, I usually have to turn up a week before the start of a tournament like this to train. But gelling with teams isn't an issue. Most teams have the same type of characters and the best teams according to me are ones that turn up every day to do what they love.
Have you been following the India-Australia series?
I have. We're getting smashed aren't we? A couple of key guys are out of form and the wickets aren't in their favour so I guess that's why.
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Mike Hussey and Badrinath going through the drill during the practice session.
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Ben Hilfenhaus and coach Stephen Flemming look serious
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Father-son time – Dirk Nannes and his son during a practice session
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Dwayne Bravo and Ben Laughlin cool off after the practice.
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Chennai Super Kings players Mike Hussey and Badrinath in an intense discussion
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Chennai Super Kings, who missed out on their hattrick last time, are in full form to take on Mumbai Indians on April 6 at Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai. CSK led by Mahendra Singh Dhoni had won IPL 3 and 4. Seen CSK player and Australian paceman Ben Hilfenhaus and coach Stephen Flemming during a practice session in Chennai
Team profile: Balanced CSK face problem of plenty in IPL 6
Come the Indian Premier League, and Chennai Super Kings are the obvious favourites for the title and this year also it won't be any different. The reason for their consistent run in the league is retaining their key players who consciously make an attempt to do well for their team.
During the February auction this year, CSK strengthened their squad by buying five bowlers - Dirk Nannes, Chris Morris, Ben Laughlin, Akila Dananjaya and Jason Holder. It was their bowling which looked weaker and with these acquisitions they would be a pretty balanced side in the sixth edition.
At the top of the order, Chennai have Murali Vijay who is in great touch after a successful Test series against Australia and most likely will be re-partnered with Michael Hussey at the top (Anirudha Srikkanth is another option). That is followed by Suresh Raina, S Badrinath, Dwayne Bravo, MS Dhoni and Ravindra Jadeja, each of whom has left a mark on CSK's fortunes down the years.
It will also be interesting to watch exciting young talents like Baba Aparajith and Imtiaz Ahmed if at all Chennai think of blooding them at some time in IPL 6. At the bowling front, Chennai have few big names with Dirk Nannes, Ben Hilfenhaus, Nuwan Kulasekara and the spin department taken care of by R Ashwin, Sadab Jakati and Jadeja.
More or less, Chennai are a balanced side with all the boxes ticked but they need to find the right combination after the initial few matches. However, skipper Dhoni may face the problem of plenty with only 11 players making the side, but that's a positive problem to worry about.
Key players: Michael Hussey, Faf du Plessis, Murali Vijay, MS Dhoni, Suresh Raina, Ravindra Jadeja
Players Retained: Albie Morkel, Ben Hilfenhaus, Dwayne Bravo, Faf du Plessis, Michael Hussey, Nuwan Kulasekara, MS Dhoni, Murali Vijay, R Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Shadab Jakati, Anirudha Srikkanth, S Badrinath, Suresh Raina, Wriddhiman Saha (wk)
Players Dropped: Doug Bollinger, George Bailey, Yo Mahesh, G Vignesh, Scott Styris, Joginder Sharma, K Vasudevadas, Suraj Randiv, Abhinav Mukund, Sudeep Tyagi
Players Bought: Dirk Nannes ($600,000), Chris Morris ($625,000), Ben Laughlin ($20,000), Akila Dananjaya ($20,000), Jason Holder ($20,000)
Foreign Players: Akila Dananjaya, Albie Morkel, Ben Hilfenhaus, Ben Laughlin, Christopher Morris, Dirk Nannes, Dwayne Bravo, Francois Du Plessis, Jason Holder, Michael Hussey, Nuwan Kulasekara
Domestic Players: Anirudha Srikkanth, Ankit Singh Rajpoot, B Aparajith, Imtiaz Ahmed, Mohit Sharma, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Murali Vijay, R Karthikeyan, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Ronit More, Shadab Jakati, S Badrinath, Suresh Raina, Vijay Shankar, Wriddhiman Saha
5 moments to remember as a CSK fan
The IPL is here, and once more it is time to set aside national loyalties and pick a city-based franchise to cheer this season. As a loyal CSK fan ever since the league’s inception, I will be egging on Dhoni’s (yellow) men to shrug off last season’s heartbreaking loss in the final and come up trumps this time to claim the championship for the third time in six seasons. Here, in no particular order, are my top five moments as a CSK fan over the years:
1. Balaji’s hat-trick (vs Kings XI in 2008)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature...;v=WgaMNgh97Qw
In the context of the game, the hat-trick may not have mattered much; three wickets remained and the batsmen were going for their shots anyway. Still, to see a local lad (and one of my favourites) pick the first hat-trick of the tournament was a sure sign of things to come: for the team to do well, the local players had to step up. And how they did!
2. The Monk tees off (vs Rajasthan Royals in 2010)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nZ1kFtQWCLk
CSK’s strength is the quality of big hitting batsmen in their side. Over the years, they have had Hayden, Flintoff, Dhoni, Raina, Morkel and Bravo – all players who could step into top gear at a moment’s notice. While these players were largely known quantities, one player who chose the IPL to announce himself to the world in grand style was Murali Vijay. In the highest team total of IPL ever made, Vijay scored 127 of his team’s 246 runs.
3. The Skipper leading from the front (vs Kings XI in 2010)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=VQIP8aH7xiU
Think Dharamsala and you would associate it with serenity and beauty. But in one night, the usually calm and collected MS Dhoni exploded to viscerally demolish Irfan Pathan in the final over of the game to give CSK a much needed win. The team was having an average run up to that point, but when Dhoni punched his helmet to celebrate the victory, it signalled the onset of a turn-around in fortunes.
4. Pollard gets out to a plan (vs Mumbai Indians in 2010)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=opwzkACS9ZE
CSK were cruising to their first IPL title in the final when big Kieron Pollard walked in. MI had made a strategic error by sending Pollard in too late, but it didn’t seem to matter as the ‘other KP’ smashed 22 runs off a Bollinger over to raise MI hopes of a last-minute heist. This is where the calm and calculating Dhoni sealed the game, as he positioned CSK’s own big man Matthew Hayden at a straightish mid-off and waited for Pollard to hit one straight to the fielder. He duly obliged on the final ball of the penultimate over as CSK sealed the game in their favour.
5. Albie ‘Morkels’ Kohli (vs Royal Challengers Bangalore in 2012)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=aWDYLDwcC2A
This was one of the highlights of IPL 2012 and it will not be easily forgotten by those who were following the match. CSK needed 43 runs to win from 12 balls when Dhoni got out. In came Albie Morkel with a clear set of instructions: hit the ball as hard as you can. As luck would have it for the men in yellow, he had to tee off against Virat Kohli, not really the bowler you would want to throw up against a fearsome hitter of the ball. What followed was carnage, as 28 runs came off the penultimate over, and CSK stole an improbable victory off the last ball of the game. In a season which ultimately ended in disappointment for the team, Albie Morkel’s assault was one of the bright spots to cherish.