From Dad's Army to Title Winners, Chennai Super Kings Complete Dream Comeback

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. They were flexible, switched plans seamlessly and left opponents wonderstruck. From Dhoni implementing chaos theory to perfection to Ravindra Jadeja being employed as a fielder in April and a strike bowler in May, Chennai pulled off their strategies with aplomb. That a batsman like Shane Watson was prepared to see off 10 dot balls to begin his innings and then smashed a hundred shows how well Chennai have moulded their players to adjust to the game situations.

Few might have given them a chance but after the kind of cricket they played in the league stages, did anyone else have a chance to grab the title? The trophy is back at Chennai and rightfully so. The yellow fever is back in IPL and how!