Chennai Super Kings have had a forgettable Indian Premier League 2020 season after failing to qualify for the first time in their history.
While their record in the competition remains incredible, the 13th edition of the IPL seems to have brought the franchise to the end of a cycle.
Banking on experience over youth has always paid dividends for CSK, but this season it appeared to be their downfall according to batting great Brian Lara.
“I think they (CSK) have got a lot of older players. There are not any young players coming through the line-up. You look at it. Even their overseas players, they have been around for a long time. So, they have backed experience over youth, and this has really turned upside down for them,” Lara was quoted as saying during Star Sports Select Dugout.
“It’s just an unbelievable season so far. You know, every time they turn up, we’re very hopeful that CSK is going to turn it around. We know 3-4 games ago they were in a little bit of a situation where they had to start winning. We all came here thinking this was going to be the time when Dhoni turns things around with his team. And game after game, it just went, and they just kept hoping,” he added.
However, CSK never found the consistency and have won only four out of their 12 matches so far.
It remains to be seen if MS Dhoni will play in the IPL next season and even if he does would CSK stick with him as the captain.
Lara feels the franchise should use their remaining two matches to build a base for next season.
“It’s a situation where they can just to try to build from next year. In the few coming games that they have, see what they can do with the younger players they’ve got,” he said.
CSK face KKR and KXIP in their final two games and would be looking to end the season on a high after an impressive win over RCB in their last game. Even if Chennai won’t be the kings this season, they could prove to be potential king-makers as they are likely to have a big say in determining who qualifies for the playoffs.