CSK vs MI, IPL 2022: Low-quality El Clasico is a reminder of poor season suffered by both teams

CSK vs MI, IPL 2022: Low-quality El Clasico is a reminder of poor season suffered by both teams

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May 13, 2022 - 10:27
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CSK vs MI, IPL 2022: Low-quality El Clasico is a reminder of poor season suffered by both teams
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The sub-continent is suffering from a terrible heat wave this summer and it wasn’t a surprise that power cuts made an impact on the Indian Premier League. As MS Dhoni and Rohit Sharma waited to flip the coin on Thursday evening, proceedings were delayed a tad due to one of the light towers failing.

MS Dhoni, Rohit Sharma

The toss happened a few minutes later thereafter, but the power cut made more impact as the game began. In the space of 10 deliveries, Devon Conway and Robin Uthappa couldn’t ask for DRS reviews and had to accept the umpire’s word on their lbw dismissals. It was an odd happenstance in what would have been a high-profile game. After all, Chennai Super Kings versus Mumbai Indians evokes a degree of interest few other T20 matchups do. On this night, however, you wondered if anyone truly cared.

The sense of anticipation was missing when the toss was delayed. It wasn’t the El Clasico we were waiting for – in fact no one was really waiting for the game to start. It was a dead rubber, one of those IPL games that you don’t really have to tune into, and as an ardent fan, can take a short breather before the season’s business end takes over your mental faculties.

Even the build-up to this clash evoked a dispassionate response from the fans. For what it’s worth, Chennai Super Kings still had a mathematical chance of making the playoffs. Win all remaining games, get to 14 points and then pray, hope and cross your fingers. With Dhoni leading, magical things can happen, and yet this was one turnaround even the most ardent CSK supporters couldn’t lift themselves up for. It has simply been that sort of season.

From a Chennai perspective alone, the lead-up to this game was marred by another brewing controversy regarding Ravindra Jadeja. The all-rounder was announced as unavailable for the remainder of the 2022 IPL season owing to a rib injury. It was later revealed that the extent of this injury was not common knowledge, and it surely caught the BCCI by surprise. Then, came the bombshell – Chennai Super Kings had unfollowed Jadeja on Instagram. In a world ruled by social media, that is as good as a divorce in marital terms.

This Jadeja-captaincy fiasco will haunt CSK for a long time. The transition away from Dhoni’s captaincy wasn’t thought out properly. Their retention and auction policy was flawed, and the core of this CSK side was lost. Then, they went and burdened one of their better players only because of seniority and not leadership merit, later hanging Jadeja out to dry when the results weren’t in favour. It isn’t akin to shooting yourself in the foot – CSK might as well have blown away its legs completely.

Talking up the game itself, even if there was chatter on social media regarding possible qualification, nobody told the Chennai dressing room. Sure, its top-order got the rough end of the stick. It doesn’t justify a poor overall outing with the bat. At no point, did any Chennai batsman looked ready for the fight. Instead, it was arguably the meekest batting performance of this season, contesting keenly with RCB’s 62 all out.

It is no wonder then even Dhoni is finding it tough to inspire the current Chennai camp. A shift back to his leadership saw a slight uptick in spirit with two aggressive batting performances, and yet overall, there was sheer inconsistency on display. Under a different circumstance, a game against Mumbai Indians is enough to fire up the troops. Herein, there was only the small matter of finishing ninth and none seemed to care, in the Chennai camp atleast.

In that respect, atleast Mumbai Indians’ camp was charged up for a fight. The manner in which Rohit Sharma spoke to the umpires and asked Conway to leave the ground when DRS was not available, indicated how the five-time champions were happy to avail any advantage possible. Those two DRS guffaws allowed Mumbai to get its tail up and it was the opening they wanted.

Like Chennai, its retention and auction strategy was flawed too, but in a different manner. Atleast Mumbai was building for the future, at the cost of its present. Even so, it allowed for a lot of valuable players to move into other franchises. Arguably it is tough to say if Mumbai’s batting or bowling suffered worse.

Truth told though, there has been a concerted effort from Mumbai’s bowling attack to up its game in recent days. It could be seen in how Daniel Sams has brought a different shade to his bowling in the second half of this IPL season. He has come to terms with what is required of him in the Trent Boult-role. In turn, that has helped Mumbai use Jasprit Bumrah in the manner they want to – hold back initially and then unleash him towards the second half of opponent’s innings. Then, there are the young spinners – Mumbai has simply told them to go out and enjoy, make an impression for the future, and the likes of Kumar Kartikeya and Hrithik Shokeen have only grabbed this opportunity with both hands. As such, the collective drive of this bowling attack was on full display against Chennai. Once Mumbai got its teeth sunk in, they just didn’t want to let the pressure go and 97 all out is a credit to these bowlers’ fighting spirit. Even so, such is the pitiful state of Mumbai’s batting, there were doubts if it could indeed chase down a paltry 98. For his part, Mukhesh Choudhary tried hard. He is one of two positives to come out of Chennai’s camp this season, along with Shivam Dube. Choudhary may not have the express pace of Umran Malik, but he represents something else – a big heart amongst this new, young generation of Indian fast bowlers. He has the desire to exceed himself if given the opportunity, and under someone like Dhoni, he has found the right time to flower into a reliable Chennai prospect for the future.

Coming back to Mumbai’s batting though, at 33-4, much seemed lost. It wasn’t as much the two bowling attacks duking it out, but two batting line-ups who had lost their respective identities. Tilak Varma might have done enough to pull Mumbai across the finish line, but this game overall was a sad commentary on both teams.

El Clasico? No, we might need a new nomenclature for the lack of quality on display not only on Thursday night, but also across the season from the joint nine-time champions.

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