Chennai Super Kings CSK IPL 2018 They say wine gets better with age. Well, the same can be said about Chennai Super Kings. At the start of IPL 2018, many questioned the Super Kings' team selection. There were question marks over the fitness of the side, with a lot of key players being aged over 30. Concerns were raised about whether these players would be able to last the entire season. A common belief is that T20 is a format meant for younger players, and that older players can't excel in it. But try telling that to CSK! In terms of average age of the side, the Mahendra Singh Dhoni-led side is the oldest team in IPL 2018, with most of the players in its playing XI aged over 30. That said, the former champions were also the ones to reach the final first this time around, a feat that they repeated for a record seventh time. This shows that old boys can boss the younger ones when it comes to cricket. It also highlights what experts have been saying for decades now -- performing well in cricket has more to do with skill and experience than fitness. There is no doubt that fitness is a very important aspect of playing the game, just like in any other sport. But if a player is highly skilled and experienced, he can very well get his team over the line, given that the game lasts only for four hours. MS Dhoni, Ambati Rayudu, Suresh Raina, Harbhajan Singh, Shane Watson, Dwayne Bravo, Faf du Plessis and Imran Tahir are comfortably over 30-years-old, but have all proved their worth this season. Kedar Jadhav struggled with his fitness and was out of the tournament after a heroic performance in the season opener against Mumbai. But rest of the old warhorses in the Chennai camp have been nothing short of outstanding, contributing at some stage or the other to their team's success. Barring Dhoni, who would still give any youngster a run for his money as far as fitness is concerned, the lot of them are a little slow on the field. But they have more than made up for it with some excellent performances, with both bat and ball. Rayudu has had a dream season and is the leading run-scorer for CSK this season with 586 runs in 15 matches. He is fourth on the list of highest run-scorers in IPL 2018 and even wore the orange cap briefly during the qualifying stages. Not surprisingly, Raina too has been among the runs, with 413 runs in 14 games. And if you take a look at the all-rounders, Watson (438 runs, 6 wickets) and Bravo (141 runs, 13 wickets) have also proved their worth. Faf du Plessis showed his class and experience by keeping his calm and helping Chennai overcome Sunrisers Hyderabad in the first qualifier to make it to the finals. Of course, let us not forget the main character of what has been a wonderful story. Dhoni, or Thalaiva as he is called in Chennai, has had his best IPL so far, this year. At the age of 36, he is still hitting the ball as hard as he did when he was 25, and personifies the saying 'form is temporary, class is permanent' every time he steps out on the field. With 455 runs in 15 matches, it would be safe to say that MSD has owned IPL 2018. His average of 75.83 is the best for any batsman this year and his strike rate of 150.66 shows that he has been really severe on opposition bowlers. Add to that his remarkable captaincy and tactics, and Captain Cool looks classes apart from other players. The best thing about Chennai's campaign is that in every match, someone or the other put his hand up and got the job done, be it Bravo in the season opener or du Plessis in the first qualifier. Rayudu, Watson and Dhoni have all been consistent throughout the season. In a nutshell, these boys have shown the world of cricket that age is just a number and that they are, quite literally, the Super Kings of IPL 2018.<doc-sep>IPL 2018: Chennai Super Kings have reached a record seventh final in nine seasons played. (Photo: BCCI) Chennai Super Kings returned to the Indian Premier League with a bang by reaching the final for a record 7th time in 9 seasons. CSK were back after completing their two-season suspension and they played like a champion team. CSK along with Rajasthan Royals were handed two-season suspensions by the Supreme Court-appointed Justice RM Lodha Committee in 2015 for betting and spot-fixing scam that rocked Indian cricket in 2013. CSK did not play in the championship in 2016 and 2017 due to their ban. Chennai were pre-tournament favourites and they have lived up to their billing with their performance so far in the tournament. Also read - MS Dhoni exudes calm ahead of CSK's 7th IPL final CSK retained their skipper MS Dhoni, batsman Suresh Raina and all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja and bought back Dwayne Bravo, Faf du Plessis and Murali Vijay at the auction in January. IPL 2018: CSK managed to maintain their core set of players despite making a comeback to the tournament after two years. (Photo: BCCI) Stephen Fleming was also back as coach after spending two years with Rising Pune Supergiant, who finished 7th in their debut season in 2016 and ended as runners-up in 2017. CSK have won the IPL title twice and are the only side to have defended their title when they did it in 2011. Only Mumbai Indians have won three titles while Kolkata Knight Riders have won the championship twice. Rajasthan Royals (2008), Deccan Chargers (2009), Sunrisers Hyderabad (2016) have lifted the trophy once each. CSK have also reached at least the top-four in every season they have been part of. This season, Chennai won 9 of their 14 matches to finish second with 18 points in the league stage. They defeated Sunrisers Hyderabad in the first qualifier to reach the final. In the summit clash on Sunday, CSK will take on Sunrisers Hyderabad who beat Kolkata Knight Riders by 13 runs in the Qualifier 2 in Kolkata on Friday. It will also be their fourth clash with SRH this season with CSK winning all three previous encounters. Here's how Chennai Super Kings fared so far in IPL 2018: Qualifier 1 Chennai Super Kings beat Sunrisers Hyderabad by 2 wickets in Mumbai League Stage Chennai Super Kings beat Kings XI Punjab by 5 wickets in Pune Chennai Super Kings lose to Delhi Daredevils by 34 runs in Delhi Chennai Super Kings beat Sunrisers Hyderabad by 8 wickets in Pune Chennai Super Kings lose to Rajasthan Royals by 4 wickets in Jaipur Chennai Super Kings beat Royal Challengers Bangalore by 6 wickets in Pune Chennai Super Kings lose to Kolkata Knight Riders by 6 wickets in Kolkata Chennai Super Kings beat Delhi Daredevils by 13 runs in Pune Chennai Super Kings lose to Mumbai Indians by 8 wickets in Pune Chennai Super Kings beat Royal Challengers Bangalore by by 5 wickets in Bengaluru Chennai Super Kings beat Sunrisers Hyderabad by 4 runs in Hyderabad Chennai Super Kings beat Rajasthan Royals by 64 runs in Pune Chennai Super Kings lose to Kings XI Punjab by 4 runs in Mohali Chennai Super Kings beat Kolkata Knight Riders by 5 wickets in Chennai Chennai Super Kings beat Mumbai Indians by 1 wicket in Mumbai<doc-sep>Watson muscles Sunrisers’ attack to slam an unbeaten 57-ball 117 after starting off with 10 dot balls. With the pressure of a big final weighing on their shoulders and the opposition pacemen in good form, both teams had a slow start before the second-wicket partnerships picked the pace up in the Vivo IPL at the Wankhede Stadium on Sunday. While Shikhar Dhawan and Kane Williamson couldn’t really continue the momentum for Sunrisers Hyderabad, Shane Watson and Suresh Raina demolished the famed Sunrisers bowling line-up to set up a crushing eight-wicket win for the Chennai Super Kings. The victory, achieved with nine balls to spare, ensured CSK’s return to the Indian Premier League culminated in the most ideal manner — with its third title. The star of the evening for Super Kings was veteran Australia all-rounder Shane Watson. The player-of-the-series of the inaugural edition 10 years ago, Watson started Super Kings’ chase of 179 by playing out a maiden to Bhuvneshwar Kumar. But once he put his foot on the pedal in the sixth over, Watson literally toyed with the Sunrisers bowlers to finish unbeaten on 117 off 57 balls, his second hundred of the season. Super Kings were tottering at 20 for one in five overs, with the star of Tuesday’s qualifier Faf du Plessis mistiming a hit off Sandeep Sharma to offer the mediumpacer a return catch. The next five overs, including two by Rashid Khan in which he conceded 12, saw Watson and Raina, the knockout specialist, plunder 60 runs to get the chase on track. Wilting under pressure After Bhuvneshwar and Sandeep shared the six PowerPlay overs, Watson and Raina targeted Siddarth Kaul and the pacer wilted under the pressure. With Kaul erring in line and length, the left and right-hand combination slammed 32 runs off his two overs, while not taking any chance against Rashid at the other end. Watson welcomed Shakib Al Hasan with a first-ball heave over deep-backward square for six and Raina finished the over with a lofted hit over long-on. The 13th over literally killed the contest with Watson cutting loose against Sandeep. He started off with a dot but followed up with a cover-driven four, a hat-trick of sixes and ended with a steer through third-man. Also Read Smart moves, sensational success By the time Raina fell to a Carlos Brathwaite short delivery, the game was all but over and Watson on the cusp of becoming a second century maker in an IPL final. Along with Rayudu, Watson completed the formalities, with the former finishing it off with a boundary through covers off Brathwaite. Earlier in the evening, Lungisani Ngidi kept it tight, bowling his second over as a maiden to Williamson. From 17 for one in four overs, Williamson and Dhawan scored 45 runs off the next four. However, Dhawan’s slog off Jadeja immediately after the time-out proved to be his undoing. Three overs later, leggie Karn Sharma bowled a wide for Dhoni to whip the bails and earn the prize catch of Williamson to get Super Kings back in the game. Had it not been for Yusuf Pathan’s cameo, Sunrisers would have found it difficult to put on a respectable total. However, in the end, that was far from enough. Scoreboard: Sunrisers Hyderabad: Shreevats Goswami run out 5 (5b), Shikhar Dhawan b Jadeja 26 (25b, 2x4, 1x6), Kane Williamson st. Dhoni b Karn 47 (36b, 5x4, 2x6), Shakib Al Hasan c Raina b Bravo 23 (15b, 2x4, 1x6), Yusuf Pathan (not out) 45 (25b, 4x4, 2x6), Deepak Hooda c sub b Ngidi 3 (4b), Carlos Brathwaite c Rayudu b Thakur 21 (11b, 3x6); Extras (lb-1, nb-1, w-6): 8; Total (for six wkts. in 20 overs): 178. Fall of wickets: 1-13 (Goswami, 1.5 overs), 2-64 (Dhawan, 8.3), 3-101 (Williamson, 12.1), 4-133 (Shakib, 15.5), 5-144 (Hooda, 16.6), 6-178 (Brathwaite, 19.6). Chennai Super Kings bowling: Chahar 4-0-25-0, Ngidi 4-1-26-1, Thakur 3-0-31-1, Karn 3-0-25-1, Bravo 4-0-46-1, Jadeja 2-0-24-1. Chennai Super Kings: Shane Watson (not out) 117 (57b, 11x4, 8x6), Faf du Plessis c & b Sandeep 10 (11b, 1x4), Suresh Raina c Goswami b Brathwaite 32 (24b, 3x4, 1x6), Ambati Rayudu (not out) 17 (19b, 1x4, 1x6); Extras (lb-2, w-3): 5; Total (for two wkts. in 18.3 overs): 181. Fall of wickets: 1-16 (du Plessis, 3.6), 2-133 (Raina, 13.3). Sunrisers Hyderabad bowling: Bhuvneshwar 4-1-17-0, Sandeep 4-0-52-1, Kaul 3-0-43-0, Rashid 4-0-25-0, Shakib 1-0-15-0, Brathwaite 2.3-0-27-1. Toss: Chennai Super Kings. Man-of-the-Match: Watson. Super Kings won by eight wickets with nine deliveries to spare to emerge IPL-11 champion.<doc-sep>CSK captain MS Dhoni with wife Sakshi and daughter Ziva following the IPL win in Mumbai. (Source: PTI) CSK captain MS Dhoni with wife Sakshi and daughter Ziva following the IPL win in Mumbai. (Source: PTI) At the end of 60 matches and nearly two months of intense action, IPL saw its latest winner as Chennai Super Kings triumphed over Sunrisers Hyderabad at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. With the eight wicket win, CSK won their third IPL crown having also lifted the trophy in 2010 and 2011. Having served out their two year suspension for alleged match fixing, CSK showed no signs of lack of confidence through the tournament – they picked up where they left off. At the end of the day, MS Dhoni emerged as the smiling captain to step up to the podium and take the trophy from BCCI acting president CK Khanna before the entire CSK unit joined in to get their hands on the much sought after silverware. At the conclusion of the match, Dhoni put up a picture on Instagram with wife Sakshi and daughter Ziva – who captured all the shutterbugs’ attentions through the course of the IPL. In the caption, Dhoni lauded Shane Watson for the unbeaten 117 run knock before quipping Ziva didn’t care about the trophy but she just wanted to run free on the lawns of Wankhede. He wrote on Instagram: “Thanks everyone for the support and Mumbai for turning yellow. Shane ‘shocking’ Watson played a shocking innings to get us through. end of a good season. Ziva doesn’t care about the trophy, wants to run on the lawn according to her wordings.” Labelled the ‘Dad’s Army’ for multiple 30-plus players in the CSK team, Dhoni said the mantra was to focus on the players’ fitness irrespective of the age. In the post-match interaction she said: “We talked a lot about age but what matters is the fitness. Rayudu for example is 32, he’s someone who is fit, covers a lot of ground. Even if he plays a few games where he spends a lot of time in the ground and in the field, he never complains. So, it is the fitness that really matters more than the age aspect.” MS Dhoni with daughter Ziva after winning the IPL with CSK. (Source: AP) MS Dhoni with daughter Ziva after winning the IPL with CSK. (Source: AP) “What captains want is players who move well in the field. It doesn’t matter which year a player is born in, whether you are 19 or 20 – you have to be agile. You have to accept your shortcomings. For example, if I push Watson to stop a single, there is a very good chance that he’ll burst his hamstring and won’t be available for the next game. So what you tell yourselves is that they have to commit and try, but there’s no point getting injured for a single,” said Dhoni before adding the CSK squad will head to Chennai on Monday for further celebrations.<doc-sep>
Yellow fever is back in IPL and how! Who gave the Chennai Super Kings a chance at the onset of the Indian Premier League 2018? A squad led by a captain whose T20 powers were clearly on the wane, a squad composed of players from the wrong side of 30 and coming back after a hiatus of two years. The best CSK could do, according to many, were making the play-offs. That in itself seemed a far fetched dream given the resources in hand. Yet from the moment Dwyane Bravo took them to a mesmerising win in a run chase in the season opener to Shane Watson's belligerent hundred in the finals, Chennai Super Kings owned the eleventh edition of the IPL, beating the table toppers in the league stage a whopping four times. While teams like Kings XI Punjab,Royal Challengers Bangalore, Kolkata Knight Riders and Sunrisers Hyderabad themselves were dependent on two big hitters at the top, Chennai had several match-winners. If Watson doesn't get you, Rayudu would and if he doesn't Dhoni does and if he doesn't, Bravo does. The list went on and on. Even non-regular players like Sam Billings and Faf du Plessis won them games, big games! In a format where individual brilliance is more impactful than ever, Chennai Super Kings showed the importance of a team, one which had a culture and bond. Their success in the IPL (7 finals in 9 seasons) stems from a core group of players who have developed a bond with each other over time. Of course there are additions here and there, but they have all been sucked up by the immaculate system in place. Dywane Bravo and Ravindra Jadeja are examples of players who have had success elsewhere but have officially become CSKians show the kind of camaraderie the players have between them in the team. Shane Watson, Ambati Rayudu, Lungi Ngidi and Deepak Chahar are few of the latest entrants to this rare cult group. Age doesn't matter in this franchise. While T20 is perceived as a teenager's sport, Chennai have hammered down that notion with a golden axe. Dubbed the “Dad’s Army” after the auctions, Chennai went about underlining the notion that age is just a number. "I think we talk a lot about age, but what's important is the fitness aspect," Dhoni had said. "Ambati Rayudu is 33, but he covers good ground. Even if he plays a few games where he's spent a lot of time on the field, he's not going to turn up and say 'I'm stiff'. So fitness matters more than age. What we have seen is that our fitness has improved. Most of the captains want players who move well on the field.” That said management is quite important. You don't want someone like Ngidi or Watson going down before a key match and this virtually means extra care is maintained to keep them firing. “We knew the shortcomings and had to accept areas that we won't be brilliant in. If I am pushing a Watson to stop a single, there's a good chance he would burst his hamstring and won't be available. You don't want Watson or a [Dwayne] Bravo injured because that will mean shuffling a lot of players to get the right combination or the same strength. So managing them well was the key. But yes, age is just a number”, Dhoni said. Deepak Chahar and Lungi Ngidi were crucial for CSK in the play-offs. A rejuvenated Ravindra Jadeja and an impactful Shardul Thakur contributed to their bowling. In the finals, Dhoni say out Mumbai's own Harbhajan Singh at his IPL home ground for a decade to play Karn Sharma. The thinking was to attack Sunrisers Hyderabad's right-handed heavy batting line-up with a bowler that turns the ball away from them. The ploy invited several criticism but all it took was a moment of brilliance from Karn and Dhoni to silence the critics. The swashbuckling Kane Williamson was stumped off Karn Sharma as Chennai Super Kings established their supremacy on the game. The move symbolised in many way how Chennai's season has progressed. Even with the massive success Rayudu had at the top, he wasn't batted at that top in either of the play-off games. That he was needed to counter Rashid Khan’s guile in the middle-order opened up a slot for du Plessis at the top and he took them to the finals effortlessly. They had several players playing multiple roles and excelling.