Chennai Super Kings Squad for IPL 2020
It had been over a year since MS Dhoni last featured in a cricket match. And the wait was finally over as the legendary wicketkeeper-batsman got ready to play his first match in the upcoming edition of IPL. Dhoni-led Chennai Super Kings will aim for a fourth IPL crown as they kicked-off their campaign against defending champions Mumbai Indians in the tournament opener.
They have a commendable squad this year with MS Dhoni as their captain. He is also the only international captain to win all three ICC global trophies. His record as all-time skipper of the Chennai Super Kings in the IPL is equally stunning with three crowns, four runners-up finishes, Playoffs in all nine seasons apart from the Champions League T20 trophies in 2010 and 2014.
The Chennai super kings’ squad has seen players from India, south Africa, west indies, Australia, New Zealand, and England.
The players in the squad include MS Dhoni, Ambati Rayudu, KM Asif, Deepak Chahar, N Jagadeesan, Karan Sharma, Kedar Jadhav, Monu Kumar, Murali Vijay, Ravindra Jadeja, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Shardul Thakur, Piyush Chawla and Sai Kishor from India. Dwayne Bravo is the only player from west indies, Flaf du Plessis, Lungi Ngidi and Imran Tahir from south Africa, and Josh Hazelwood and Shane Watson from Australia. The only player from England, Sam curran, is also the youngest player in the squad, being only 21 years of age. This is his first IPL.
Few of the players from the twelfth edition like Sam Billings, Mitchell Santer, David Willey, Chaitanya Bishnoi, and Dhruv Shorey, were not bought by the Chennai Super Kings in this edition. Josh Hazelwood, Piyush Chawla, and Sam Curran have been added to the squad this year.
The well-balanced team has MS Dhoni, N Jagadeesan, and Ruturaj Gaikwad as wicket keeper/ batsmen. Flaf Du Plessis, Shane Watson, Murali Vijay and Ambati Rayudu are the star batsmen of the team. Deepak Chahar, Imran Tahir, Karan Sharma, Lungi Ngidi, Monu Kumar, Shardul Thakur, Piyush Chawla, Josh Hazelwood, and Sai Kishor as their fast bowlers and spinners. And finally, to top the list, Sam Curran, Kedar Jadhav, Ravindra Jhadeja, Mitchell Santer, and Dwayne Bravo as their allrounders.
The team, however, misses the services of veteran cricketers Suresh Raina and Harbhajan Singh this season. The duo pulled out from the contest earlier that month, citing personal reasons. Raina’s departure from the CSK camp last month was the most high-profile departure. The 33-year-old Indian international cricketer, though initially having reached UAE with his teammates, pulled out of the season for personal reasons. There were speculations that he would return to the team soon. However, we may not see the champs return this season.
Harbhajan became the second CSK player to pull out, also due to personal reasons. With two senior players Raina and Harbhajan out, CSK have been hit the hardest. In the spin department, Imran Tahir, Mitchell Santer and Piyush Chawla will be looking to step up in Harbhajan’s absence.
CSK hasn’t been having a great season as of yet. But we hope to see them at the top of their game in the rest of the season. Everybody is awaiting the return of the cricket champs through online cricket and live streaming of the matches.
-Abigail Gretel Soares.