With four championship wins, Chennai Super Kings are the only side other than Mumbai Indians to have won it three or more times. It’s worth remembering that in addition to those four finals which they won, CSK also made a further five finals. They really have been the epitome of consistency in the IPL over the years.
Perhaps CSK’s success should come as no big surprise. The CSK management is well-versed in what it takes to build a side primed for an assault on the IPL title and couldn’t have a better man on the field to take them through their paces.
MS Dhoni is the only man to have been in charge of an IPL side since day one and has been there for all their big moments.
Is 2022 the season that MS Dhoni and CSK win back-to-back titles again before Dhoni finally calls time on his distinguished career? We’ll have to wait and see.
Chennai Super Kings have IPL odds of 8.00 with Betway to win the 2022 edition. This gives the team an implied win probability of 12.5%.
That also makes them the fifth-joint favorites alongside the Rajasthan Royals to win a tournament they’ve now won on four occasions, the last of which was, of course, last year.
In addition to the permanent presence of MS Dhoni behind the stumps, Chennai Super Kings have also made a habit of trying to keep the rest of the squad together as much as possible and avoiding change just for the sake of it.
That’s allowed them to pick a similar XI for year after year and put the same game plans into place. Even though the rules for IPL 2022 mean they could initially keep just four of their players from last year, dealings in the auction mean they can field a pretty familiar side to what we’ve seen in previous editions.
At odds of 8.00 on Betway, you can definitely place a bet on CSK to win IPL 2022.
Retained players: Ravindra Jadeja, MS Dhoni, Moeen Ali, Ruturaj Gaikwad.
Bought Players: Dwayne Bravo, Ambati Rayudu, Dwaine Pretorius, Mitchell Santner, Subhranshu Senapati, Adam Milne, Mukesh Choudhary, Prashant Solanki, C Hari Nishaanth, N Jagadeesan, Chris Jordan, K Bhagath Varma, Robin Uthappa, Deepak Chahar, KM Asif, Tushar Deshpande, KM Asif, Shivam Dube, Maheesh Theekshana, Rajvardhan Hangargekar, Samarjeet Singh, Devon Conway.
Ravindra Jadeja, MS Dhoni, Ruturaj Gaikwad, and Moeen Ali were the four players CSK chose to retain from the 2021 IPL season and their picks were somewhat unsurprising.
Jadeja is one of the world’s best T20 all-rounders and always seems to make a contribution in one of the three disciplines. Ali, also an all-rounder, had a fantastic 2021 IPL season.
Moeen Ali’s big-hitting from the outset was a key factor in CSK’s much-improved performances with the bat last year. Ali’s innings didn’t often last too long but he always scored quickly enough.
Ruturaj Gaikwad was the IPL’s top runscorer last year. As a prolific opening batsman, CSK were obviously desperate to keep him around at the top of the order for as long as possible.
And then, of course, there’s MS Dhoni. Some may have felt he may have called it a day after winning it last season but he is keen to stay on and help re-build the side after the IPL mega auction.
CSK also bought back Dwayne Bravo, Ambati Rayudu, Robin Uthappa, Mitchell Santner, and Deepak Chahar in the IPL mega auction. So, at least half of their side will be made of players they already had last year.
Among the new signings is Kiwi opening batsman Devon Conway, veteran English death bowler Chris Jordan and fast bowler Adam Milne.
CSK have deliberately kept change to a minimum and that may well work in their favor once again.
That said, going all the way once again won’t be easy. One toss going against them in a Qualifier or final and they could be up against it.
But they’re certainly the model of consistency when it comes to strong finishes in the group stages.
Ruturaj Gaikwad kicked on after playing so well at the back of the 2020 season by ending 2021 as the top runscorer in the IPL just pipping team-mate Faf du Plessis.
We know Gaikwad has got to grips with this league. He will always open the batting and he’s a class act who will surely be an India regular very soon in this format.
We also saw last season how Ruturaj Gaikwad started to turn starts into big scores notching a century and four fifties in 16 matches.
That’s a lot of boxes ticked and though he’s the favorite, he’s the favorite for very good reasons.
Recommended Bet: Back Ruturaj Gaikwad to be CSK Top Batsman
Normally Deepak Chahar would be the pick here as their most consistent bowler of the past few seasons. He took 14 wickets last season.
But he suffered a hamstring injury in the recent T20 series against the West Indies that threatens to rule him for the initial few games.
So, it could pay to go with Jadeja. MS Dhoni’s trusted lieutenant is always a threat with his accurate off-spin and generally bowls three overs.
Only Dwayne Bravo has taken more wickets (116) for CSK than Jadeja’s 93. With Bravo on the decline, it could be the ever-reliable and ever-present Jadeja finishing top of the pile.
Recommended Bet: Ravindra Jadeja to be CSK Top Wicket-taker
Chennai Super Kings won the IPL 2021 in style. They ended the group stages in second place with nine wins and five losses just behind Delhi Capitals and tied with RCB albeit with a better net run rate.
That allowed CSK to go straight to the Qualifier where they beat Delhi after chasing 173. They qualified for the final at the first time of asking and batting first against surprise finalists KKR.
CSK posted a very competitive 192/3 in IPL 2021 final. Gaikwad scored 32 & Moeen Ali got a quickfire 37 off 20 but it was Faf du Plessis doing most of the damage with 86 off 59.
Despite a decent start in their reply, KKR lost too many wickets in the middle overs and ended up 27 runs short. Shardul Thakur was the pick of the bowlers with 3/38. It was CSK’s fourth win and the perfect reply after a poor campaign in 2020.
