Fall from craze: Traditional heavyweights Chennai, Mumbai have had an abysmal season so far

CHENNAI: Not many with a sane mind would have predicted traditional powerhouses Chennai Super Kings and Mumbai Indians to combine for just a solitary victory close to the midway point of the Indian Premier League 2022.

However, much to everyone’s disbelief, the decorated franchises that share nine IPL titles between them are in unfamiliar terrain – the foot of the points table. But, as the cliché goes, that is the beauty of the IPL. Guess what? The bottom dwellers, CSK (9th in the standings with 2 points from 6 matches) and MI (10th with 0 points from 6 matches), will next be up against each other at the DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai on Thursday.

The upcoming episode of what is billed as the IPL’s ‘El Clasico’ will not carry the special significance that it usually does, solely due to the teams’ dreadful performances so far. Their fall from grace in the 15th edition can be put down to a few key factors. The IPL war is not won at the auction table, but battles certainly are.

Despite going into the mega auction with a relatively low purse of Rs 48 crore each, CSK and MI broke the bank to bring back ‘one of their own’. Lead pacer Deepak Chahar (Rs 14 crore) and swashbuckling wicketkeeper-batter Ishan Kishan (Rs 15.25 crore) are, without a doubt, among the crème de la crème, but their price tags massively disturbed the team balance of Chennai and Mumbai respectively.

For instance, CSK does not possess a gun powerplay bowler besides Chahar and is paying the price for the lack of a proven leg-spinner. Meanwhile, MI, which tasted enviable success in recent years by operating with two foreign pacers in the eleven, invested heavily with an eye on the future while failing to stay in the present. Mumbai shelled out Rs 8 crore to acquire Jofra Archer’s services for next season, only to struggle with its current overseas crop that includes Tymal Mills and Daniel Sams. Known for providing security to their respective core groups, CSK and MI surprisingly made some bizarre selection calls in the initial rounds.

On one hand, Dwaine Pretorius was not persisted with even though the Chennai all-rounder produced a couple of fine spells. On the other hand, Mumbai pressed the panic button as early as the third match, dropping its Rs 8.25 crore purchase Tim David after just two batting failures. The fluctuating form of captains Ravindra Jadeja and Rohit Sharma has also played its part in compounding the misery.

Jadeja is yet to master the art of juggling the leadership and all-rounder roles while Rohit has been short on runs on his ‘home’ patch. The fact that the newly-appointed skipper Jadeja had little hand in constructing the CSK squad has made his job harder.

Now onto one word that athletes dread about but is part and parcel of sport – injury. Chennai has been severely impacted by the absence of Chahar, who recently was ruled out of the season with a back problem. Suryakumar Yadav is Mumbai’s leading run-getter despite missing the first two fixtures with a finger issue. Who knows what would have happened if a quality batter like Suryakumar had been available from the start?

Well aware of the positions they find themselves in, CSK and MI will understand that there is no time for ‘ifs’ and ‘buts’. Make no mistake, it is now or never for both teams.