Chennai Super Kings made an emphatic comeback in this season’s IPL, as they won the tournament for the third time in club’s history.
The MS-Dhoni led Chennai side won the IPL 2018, beating Sunrisers Hyderabad in the final. CSK was the most consistent side in IPL, and a combined team-effort throughout the season saw them lifting the IPL trophy. Chennai Super Kings did their homework well for the auctions, and MS Dhoni’s captaincy, combined with brilliant individual contributions led to CSK’s win in the IPL.
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Chennai’s biggest task for the next season will be to retain the IPL trophy. While their core squad comprises of all the players who have won multiple IPL tournaments in the past (Dhoni, Raina, Jadeja, Rayudu, Watson and Bravo, to say the least), the age-factor will surely be catching up in 2019. Shane Watson will turn 37, and his comments in the post-match presentation suggest that Watson is set to take a big break from cricket now. While Dhoni at 36 has maintained his fitness, there are various players who might go slow with reflexes as the age catches up.
theSportsRush takes a look at 3 players who CSK can invest in for next season, in a bid to strengthen their squad.
Aiden Markram –
The South African youngster emerged as a defiant opener for South Africa, and proved his potential in the series against Australia. The South Africa’s defiant knock of 143 in the first test earned him praises from players like Virat Kohli. Markram was also named the stand-in captain for Faf du Plessis in the series, and former South African great Graeme Smith even touted him to lead the Proteas in the future.
Markram may have not yet represented South Africa in T20Is, but his aggressive stroke-playing is not hidden to the rest of the world. He has played 30 T20s, scoring seven fifties at a decent average of 35.
Markram also led South Africa to U-19 World Cup triumph in 2014, where he was also the man of the series.
Ross Taylor –
The Kiwi star might be 34, but is still central to New Zealand’s success throughout his career. The New Zealand batsman brings with himself a vast array of T20 experience, playing in over 200 games. In the past, he represented Delhi Daredevils, Rajasthan Royals and Royal Challengers Bangalore in IPL.
Taylor will provide some stability to the CSK middle-order and will prove to be an able partner to Suresh Raina. The Kiwi batsman has a strike-rate of 133 in T20s. The 33-year old cricketer scored 968 runs in 20 ODI innings last year, at a staggering average of 60.5. His terrific form earned him a T20 call-up towards the end of the year. He has been a first-team regular in the T20 side ever since.
With fellow kiwi Stephen Fleming as coach, Ross Taylor can prove to be an effective value-for-money buy for CSK next season.
Samuel Badree
The West Indian maintains a staggering economy rate of 5.94 in T20s. Badree was a surprise reject in this year’s IPL auction, after a decent season in 2017. He took 9 wickets, including a hat-trick in seven games with RCB. He kept the runs at bay, with an economy rate of 7.41.
Badree shined in the game against the World XI on May 31, where in three overs, the bowler conceded merely 4 runs, taking two wickets. His accuracy is impeccable, and his skills in the shortest format of the game is highly rated.
Harbhajan Singh has hardly impressed in this season, and Badree can be an able replacement to the off-spinner.
