The experienced Chennai spinners adapted to the flat Chepauk pitch for a successful homecoming after three years, with MS Dhoni pulling the strings.

Chennai Super Kings improved their home record in IPL 2023 with a 12-run win over Lucknow Super Giants on Monday at the MA Chidambaram Stadium. In cricket, teams always look to capitalise on home advantage, but not all do so in T20 cricket.

However, not CSK. To draw crowds for long T20 tournaments, batting friendly surfaces are commonly prepared. CSK, led by MS Dhoni, find a way to avoid upsetting the status quo while maximising home advantage. They prefer slow burners over fast turners. It’s their hack.

That method has resulted in Chennai’s 71.92 percent win rate (41 out of 57). Who has the worst home record of the original IPL teams? The teams that have never won the IPL championship are the Punjab Kings, Royal Challengers Bangalore, and Delhi Capitals.

CSK’s homecoming after three years was built on spin, with Mitchell Santner and Moeen Ali scoring 8-0-47-5. But this wasn’t your average Chepauk pitch. That is why LSG stayed in the game until the very end of their 218-point chase.

Not only were KL Rahul’s supporters taken aback. “They were capable of hitting big shots even in the second inning. So the wicket caught me off guard. You must watch the next six (home) games “MS Dhoni, captain of CSK, stated.

If that’s a subtle message to the curators, it’ll be taken seriously. CSK can always call on this good wicket against opponents with comparable spin resources.

But no one knows Chepauk like CSK. Dhoni and coach Stephen Fleming are the two strategic constants who plan everything. It helped that Ruturaj Gaikwad and Devon Conway were quick off the mark, and that Ambati Rayudu and Dhoni were able to use their intangible trump card, cameos, to bring the crowd to life.

SUBSTANTIAL SPIN CHANGES

However, when LSG launched their batting powerplay with the same intention, CSK was forced to respond. They did it again, using the same old’spin to win’ card. Only this time, with the pitch still playing well, their experienced spinners adjusted their bowling speeds and used the long boundaries. “I tried to bowl almost like Test cricket, with as much spin as I could,” Moeen explained after the game.

Moeen’s introduction came with the score at 73/0 after five overs. Kyle Mayers holed out to deep midwicket while on the cruise. Deepak Hooda was caught in the same region by left-armer Santner in the next over. In over No. 8, skipper KL Rahul was caught at deep midwicket for the second time, falling to Moeen’s flight. The batters committed errors in either hitting against the turn or attempting to clear the long boundary in each of these dismissals.

“When Mo gets a couple of wickets and I try to dot it up (9 dot balls),” Santner said. “You want to try to get it (hits) to wider dimensions on this ground. As a result, it’s either short and wide or slower and wider. I am used to playing on one side of the block in New Zealand.”

Marcus Stoinis was bowled in the tenth over, beaten in flight by Moeen, and LSG was reduced to 105-4 after ten overs. In a match with 422 runs scored, that’s 32 runs in 24 balls for 4 wickets.

CSK spinners bowled very differently than LSG’s Ravi Bishnoi, who relied heavily on quickish wide line bowling and the unique angles a leg spinner can produce. Santner and Moeen used their previous experience to their advantage and won the day. CSK’s spin bowling will be bolstered by the return of Maheesh Theekshana. Dhoni is also likely to use more spin in the powerplay.

CSK will find new ways to defend their fortress in some way. It’s played a significant role in their four championship campaigns. When they are forced to change the script, as they will be in the UAE in 2021, Dhoni’s ticking brain will be there to guide them.

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