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After serving a two-year ban, Chennai Super Kings made a return to the Indian Premier League last year to lift the title for the third time. CSK has arguably been the most consistent and dominant side in the previous decade of IPL under the leadership of MS Dhoni. They have played all the IPL playoffs they have been a part of, including seven finals. However, the Yellow Army will have a stern test if they want to defend their title this year....

When your team’s average age is 34 and you are taking on a vivacious Delhi side who have an average age of 27, it seemed like a difficult task especially with fatigue playing a factor at this stage of the tournament. Not for CSK though. They have defied all norms over the last two years and have proved to the entire world that experience matters, whatever the format, and they have the resources to deliver on the big stage....

Sent in to bat by Kings XI Punjab skipper Ravichandran Ashwin, the Mumbai Indians put posted a respectable score of 176/6 in their allotted 20 overs, on the back of a superb half-century by Quinton De Kock. Despite beginning their innings slowly, the Kings XI Punjab batsmen led by KL Rahul hardly broke any sweat and easily chased down the target of 177 runs in just 18.4 overs to win their second game in IPL 2019....

Batsmen:- Rohit Sharma (C), Evin Lewis, Suryakumar Yadav, Anmolpreet Singh, Siddesh Lad Wicket-Keepers:- Ishan Kishan, Quinton de Kock, Aditya Tare All-Rounders:- Hardik Pandya, Krunal Pandya, Kieron Pollard, Ben Cutting, Yuvraj Singh, Anukul Roy Bowlers:- Lasith Malinga, Jasprit Bumrah, Brainder Sran, Jayant Yadav, Mitchell McClenaghan, Jason Behrendorff, Adam Milne, Rahul Chahar, Mayank Markande Mumbai Indians (MI) have a squad of 25 players out which 16 were retained from last season and rest 9 have been recruited this year either via auction or transfer window....

The Rajasthan innings got off to a flyer as Sanju Samson took over proceedings after the early dismissal of youngster Yashaswi Jaiswal. Samson and RR skipper Steve Smith put up a quickfire 121-run partnership to set the stage for a high total. Chennai bowlers however did a good job of restricting the middle-order of the Royals with the quick departures of David Miller, Robin Uthappa, Rahul Tewatia and Riyan Parag....

While talking about the MI innings, Aakash Chopra mentioned that KKR had seemed to be on the ascendency early on after bagging the wicket of Quinton de Kock. He observed that MI was right on top of KKR after that early setback, with Rohit Sharma taking the attack to the opposition and being particularly severe on Pat Cummins. Aakash Chopra spoke highly about Suryakumar Yadav’s contribution in the partnership with Rohit Sharma, hoping that the former would get a chance to represent India soon....

The battle really begins at the auction table though. The Mumbai-based franchise will look to buy smartly in order to overcome certain failures experienced in the past, especially their tendency to start a season slowly. Mumbai have always had a relatively large pool of people who work behind the scenes. They have a huge support staff including talent scouts who work to strategise the franchise’s action on the auction day....

While Jofra Archer is majorly a bowler, he has played a few handy cameos with the bat for the inaugural champions in IPL 2020. The right-arm pacer is among the Most Valuable Players of the season. With his sensational one-handed catch against the Mumbai Indians in Abu Dhabi, he has further strengthened his candidature for the award. Jofra Archer stuns his teammates with a special effort in the deep Kartik Tyagi was bowling to the well-set Ishan Kishan in the eleventh over of the IPL 2020 match....

While SRH needed a win to qualify, MI could not move from their top spot regardless of the result. However, their fans would have wanted a little more than the whimper they produced after having been so dominant through the season. There was very little that troubled SRH in their chase of 150. Since his instatement into the SRH top order, Wriddhiman Saha has been a revelation, and he continued with yet another fine contribution....

The Men in Yellow fell to an agonising 1-run defeat in the final of last year’s edition, but extracted revenge to gain their first win of IPL 2020 after 4 consecutive losses to the 4-time champions. After CSK captain MS Dhoni won the toss and elected to bowl first, MI skipper Rohit Sharma and Quinton de Kock got their team off to a flying start. Deepak Chahar and Lungi Ngidi were carted around in the powerplay, before Piyush Chawla picked up the crucial wicket of Rohit....

The last two seasons have seen some major trades take place. Players like Shikhar Dhawan and R Ashwin moved teams through the trade window in 2018 and 2019 respectively. However, it can strongly be argued that Mumbai Indians have been the most successful team in this trading affair. There might not have been any big Indian names which got into the MI setup, but the franchise have gone about their transfer business shrewdly....

Punjab Kings have stuck to the combination of skipper KL Rahul and Mayank Agarwal at the top of the order and the duo have been really successful and prolific. However, Saba Karim is of the opinion that since Gayle opened in the Caribbean Premier League (CPL), he should open in the Indian Premier League (IPL) too. Saba Karim also feels other in-form players from the CPL like Evin Lewis and Nicholas Pooran should also play....

But when it comes to his fielding, there is a lot to be desired. With advancing years, Chris Gayle’s athleticism, and subsequently his fielding ability, have taken a hit. With the game played at a breakneck pace, many feel Chris Gayle is a liability on the field. Despite having a safe pair of hands, his ground fielding leaves a lot to be desired, as the heavily-built Gayle is not as flexible as he was before....

Overseas players play an important role in squad construction. Generally, overseas power-hitters, pace-bowling all-rounders, and fast-bowlers are in high demand, as not too many Indian options are available in the market for these roles. IPL teams are allowed a maximum of eight overseas players in the squad and four in the playing XI. Thus, along with the price factor, teams need to be shrewd as the number of players and spots are limited....

The talismanic skipper has led the Chennai-based franchise to three IPL titles - the second-most in the league’s history, only behind the five won by the Mumbai Indians. While talking about the strengths of the Chennai Super Kings in a video shared on his YouTube channel, Aakash Chopra named MS Dhoni as their shining beacon. The former India cricketer pointed out that the Chennai Super Kings skipper is known to extract the best from his players while fine-tuning their skills....

MI suffered a setback as their skipper Rohit Sharma was declared unfit and Kieron Pollard stepped out for the toss in his absence. Anmolpreet Singh will be making his debut in Rohit’s place for MI. All-rounder Hardik Pandya is also not part of the playing XI, with Saurabh Tiwary coming in. For CSK, England all-rounder Sam Curran is unavailable on expected lines but the good news for Dhoni’s side is that Faf du Plessis is part of the playing XI....

Whenever the situation was tough, the youngsters stepped up and helped their team come out on top. As the motto of the IPL says “Where talent meets opportunity”, plenty of opportunities was available for these talented players and they made the most of it. We look at the impressive performances from these five uncapped players. #1 Krunal Pandya The uncapped superstar of Mumbai Indians, the ever-so-consistent, Krunal Pandya stepped up again when the situation demanded....

The Daredevils were coached by Paddy Upton last year, managing six wins in fourteen games to finish sixth in the table. He had been recently linked with a role with Cricket Australia as a coach in the T20 side. While he stated that he was interested in being linked to the Australian side, he also added that no former talks had been completed between him and the board. The Daredevils announced his appointment with a tweet:...

The primary reason for this is their instability, be it with the captaincy or the core group of players. With each of Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Dinesh Karthik, James Hopes, Mahela Jayawardene, Ross Taylor, David Warner, Kevin Pietersen, Zaheer Khan and Karun Nair having captained the side, there sure seems to be a lack of a set plan. Too much chopping and changing has not allowed the players to understand their role properly and as a result, they have not been able to live up to the expectations....

This year, the side seems to be banking on the Australian’s experience in the T20 format to guide the ship forward, as they embark into unknown waters with most of their winning squad being let go. With only two players retained, the franchise has a handy sum of Rs. 59 crore left in their account, and as is the case for others, three right-to-match options to choose from. Who got retained?...