For the first time in the history of the Indian Premier League (IPL), MS Dhoni-led Chennai Super Kings (CSK) have failed to reach the playoffs. A lot of questions have been raised over the team’s future and even on Dhoni – who has had a forgettable tournament as per his own standards in UAE. Despite Dhoni’s poor run in UAE, CSK CEO Kasi Viswanathan is confident that the Ranchi superstar will lead CSK in 2021.
“Yes, definitely. I am very confident that Dhoni will lead CSK in 2021. He has won three titles for us in the IPL. This is the first year we have not qualified for the playoffs. No other team has done that. One bad year does not mean we will have to change everything,” Viswanathan told The Times of India.
Apart from Faf du Plessis and Sam Curran, most of the CSK players failed to deliver on a regular basis. CSK suffered a big blow ahead of the tournament as Suresh Raina and Harbhajan Singh pulled out of the 13th edition due to personal reasons.
Viswanathan agreed that two senior players pulling out as well as the Covid scare in the CSK camp affected the team’s balance.
“We didn’t play to our potential this season. We lost games that we should have won. That pushed us back. The withdrawals of Suresh Raina and Harbhajan Singh coupled with Covid cases in the camp meant that the balance of the side was upset,” he added.
When asked why CSK did not field many youngsters in the tournament, Dhoni said at a post-match presentation ceremony that the youngsters did not show enough spark to get more opportunities. With nothing to lose, the management decided to give more chances to the likes of Ruturaj Gaikwad, Narayan Jagdeeshan and Monu Kumar.
