With Dhoni back at the helm, CSK eyes revival

CHENNAI: How about taking refuge in gallows humour in these distressing times caused by Trump’s tariffs and Chennai Super Kings’ unending travails?

After all, when despair keeps tailing you with the same ferocity of a jilted lover, blockading all possible routes to the promised land called ‘hope’, how do you intend to come through unscathed, retaining your sanity? While the global stock markets, particularly those in Asia, have shown encouraging signs of swift recovery, indeed barring just a day’s nosedive, most have started soaring again, with the notable exception of our behemoth of an eastern neighbour’s, the Super Kings’ woes are only deepening. Or are they really? There is no dearth of memes on various social media platforms about how the embattled Super Kings’ margin of defeats has come down, from 25 runs to 18, in its previous two matches, enough for its faithful to take heart from and paint a rosy picture in their minds about their team having turned a corner, ahead of its clash against defending champion Kolkata Knight Riders here on Friday.

Jettisoning the sarcasm and trudging back to reality, no matter how excruciatingly painful it is, imagine how badly the Super Kings would be pining for an auction to happen in the here and now and one that its management would consider a godsend for it to undo the damage it inflicted upon itself at the mega auction in November. To put it succinctly, the Super Kings bungled at the auction in Jeddah. And this can be said with the utmost conviction after sitting through drearily for its last two chases at home, against RCB and DC, that had gone hopelessly pear-shaped as early as in the 10th over or even prior to that on some occasions.

Without the requisite wherewithal, with it lacking a bona fide finisher save for Shivam Dube, expecting to subdue opponents through past glory and some fast-fading icons was born out of either a deeply flawed strategy or sheer overconfidence.

And it is quickly assuming the contours of a perfect storm, if it hasn’t already, with regular captain Ruturaj Gaikwad being ruled out for the reminder of the tournament having sustained an elbow fracture in the game against Rajasthan Royals in Guwahati. The mantle of leadership has now been handed to fans’ eternal favourite MS Dhoni to turn the page of a book that has only a few of them remaining.

One more defeat on Friday to a resurgent KKR, boasting a formidable spin attack of its own, would result in the Super Kings’ campaign ending at the earliest stage of its 16-year existence in IPL. Dhoni has long been viewed as despair’s implacable adversary and his unexpected appointment may act as a catalyst for a belated surge up the points table.