The bowling department of Chennai Super Kings (CSK) has been struggling in the ongoing season of the IPL. Although their batting has been strong, their bowlers have failed to restrict their opponents from scoring. Despite posting a massive score of 227 runs against Royal Challengers Bangalore, their bowlers had to fight hard in the last over to win the match by eight runs.
Weakened seam attack
Injuries to several key bowlers, including Deepak Chahar, Mukesh Choudhary, Sisanda Magala, Ben Stokes, and Simarjeet Singh, have weakened their seam attack. However, the primary concern has been the lack of discipline and accuracy among the bowlers.
Dhoni threatens to walk away
The CSK bowlers have been committing the error of bowling wides and no-balls frequently, which has cost them dearly in the IPL. Even in their match against RCB on Monday, they bowled six wides. Team captain, MS Dhoni, who is known for his calm and composed demeanor, had to issue a warning to the bowlers, emphasizing the importance of reducing the extras.
"They'll have to bowl no no-balls and fewer wides. We are bowling too many extra deliveries and need to cut them out otherwise, they'll be playing under a new captain," said Dhoni after a match against LSG earlier this month.
Alarming number of extras
In their previous match, CSK had bowled a total of 13 wides, which was an alarmingly high number. Although the number has reduced, it is still not at a manageable level.
Former India opener Virender Sehwag, expressed his concerns regarding the situation and warned that if the problem persists, the day is not far when MS Dhoni, the CSK captain, will face a suspension due to repeated slow overrate offences.
"Dhoni was not looking happy because he has mentioned it before that he wants the bowlers to reduce the number of no-balls and wides. CSK had bowled two to three overs of extras, and against RCB, they bowled another extra over. It shouldn't go to a stage where Dhoni gets banned and CSK has to take the field without their captain.
Concerns regarding Dhoni's fitness
With the kind of knee injury he has, it appears he might play only a handful of matches more anyway. He is constantly pushing himself, but if his bowlers are bowling so many wides and no-balls, then Dhoni will have to take a rest," Sehwag said on Cricbuzz.
Bowling department needs tweaking
Tushar Deshpande, who has given away the highest number of extras for CSK in this season's IPL, delivered three wides against RCB. However, Sehwag was more dissatisfied with the performance of spinner Maheesh Theekshana.
"I'm saying from day 1 that CSK's bowling is weak. They need to work on that department. But what more can they do? They will have to use whatever resources they have this season. The bowlers have to be more accurate. If you look at their performance against RCB, they bowled 30- to 35-dot balls, so they didn't let RCB score a run in six overs. Despite that, they ended up conceding 218 because they leaked far too many sixes and fours," he said.
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