It is a proven winning formula. From time to time it will need a tweak here and there, but as the old saying goes \u2013 if it ain\u2019t broke, don\u2019t fix it.<\/p>\n
Chennai Super Kings are Indian Premier League finalists again. Unless they have peaked one game too early, the Lions will be clear favourites to become IPL Champions for a third time on the weekend regardless of the opposition.<\/p>\n
Maybe Mumbai will be back for more. The Indians\u2019 capitulation in the qualifier was as unexpected as it was ugly. On a kind Kotla wicket Chennai filled their boots using just three batsmen to post a mammoth total. Mumbai beat Chennai twice during the regular season but couldn\u2019t muster a response when it mattered.<\/p>\n
Perhaps the Royals will be crowned. On the point of collapse in the eliminator, Brad Hodge rode to Rajasthan\u2019s rescue, finally eclipsing the Sunrisers who enjoyed an encouraging debut season in the IPL. His first half-century of the tournament, completed with back-to-back game winning sixes, sparked wild celebration among his team-mates.<\/p>\n
Whichever team prevails, it is Chennai\u2019s championship to lose. CSK has the knack. Not by accident but by design \u2013 something not lost on coach Stephen Fleming. He is convinced that continuity and loyalty has been rewarded in the past and continues to pay dividends.<\/p>\n
It helps having high quality options for all positions. Fleming\u2019s roster oozes class, starting with his captain. M.S. Dhoni demands excellence of himself and those he leads. He is a versatile, often explosive batsman who has adapted his own game to suit the unique demands of Twenty20 cricket. Behind the stumps Dhoni is an agile wicketkeeper, always in the thick of the action and perfectly positioned to stay one move ahead of the opposition.<\/p>\n
It is no coincidence Chennai boasts the best batsman and the best bowler in IPL6. Mike Hussey can\u2019t stop scoring runs and is the runaway favourite for tournament MVP. The Australian opener doesn\u2019t have the power of Chris Gayle or the all-round talent of Shane Watson but he has more runs than both of them. In a season that witnessed Gayle\u2019s T20 world record, it is Hussey\u2019s consistency in 2013 which sets him apart.<\/p>\n
In the IPL\u2019s brief history no one has scored more runs than Suresh Raina. Now approaching 3,000 runs, Raina has been more aggressive than ever this season, elevating his impressive strike rate past the 150 mark for the first time. If Hussey\u2019s not scoring boundaries at one end, Raina generally is at the other.<\/p>\n
As an all-rounder Dwayne Bravo is expected to contribute as both batsman and bowler. With limited opportunities he has found runs hard to come by this year but it is a different story with ball in hand. His 28 wickets lead the category and Bravo\u2019s ability to lure batsmen into ill-timed shots was amply demonstrated in the victory over Mumbai.<\/p>\n
Experience is the key. Chennai, preparing for its fourth straight Final, has been there and done it on a regular basis. Fleming and his team know exactly where they should be in any given game and have learned, as a group, how to perform successfully under pressure.<\/p>\n
It doesn\u2019t always work. The fickle nature of T20 cricket is designed to keep us guessing and biting our fingernails to the last possible moment. A year ago Kolkata squeezed home with 2 balls to spare. Expect nothing different on Sunday at Eden Gardens.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Chennai Super Kings are heavy favourites to capture their third Indian Premier League championship on the weekend. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":17,"featured_media":80615,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"apple_news_api_created_at":"","apple_news_api_id":"","apple_news_api_modified_at":"","apple_news_api_revision":"","apple_news_api_share_url":"","apple_news_cover_media_provider":"image","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_cover_video_id":0,"apple_news_cover_video_url":"","apple_news_cover_embedwebvideo_url":"","apple_news_is_hidden":"","apple_news_is_paid":"","apple_news_is_preview":"","apple_news_is_sponsored":"","apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":[],"apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false,"footnotes":"","disable_ec_suggest":"","writethru_meta":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"coauthors":[3048],"class_list":["post-667931","sn-article","type-sn-article","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","sports-cricket","leagues-ipl","teams-chennai-super-kings"],"acf":[],"apple_news_notices":[],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sportsnet.ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/sn-article\/667931"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sportsnet.ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/sn-article"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sportsnet.ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/sn-article"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sportsnet.ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/17"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.sportsnet.ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/sn-article\/667931\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":667937,"href":"https:\/\/www.sportsnet.ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/sn-article\/667931\/revisions\/667937"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sportsnet.ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/80615"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sportsnet.ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=667931"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sportsnet.ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=667931"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sportsnet.ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=667931"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sportsnet.ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=667931"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}