New Delhi: Despite being the Indian Premier League's (IPL) most consistent team across its three editions, the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) had to ward off many pits in the 2010 season on their way to the camp in Johannesburg for the Airtel Champions League Twenty20.
The IPL was back in India in 2010 and CSK – with the likes of Michael Hayden, Albie Morkel, Michael Hussey and Suresh Raina in a team led by the charismatic Mahendra Singh Dhoni – were the heartthrob once again. Though the advent was nowhere near auspicious, the silken touch returned in the middle to help scale the peak. Continue reading below
In the first half of a 14-match league phase, the CSK lost five games. But a disconcerting loss against Kings XI Punjab in the one-over eliminator proved to be a timely shot in the arm. Four wins in the next six games followed, which meant the CSK needed a win in the last league encounter to tiptoe into the semis on net run-rate. Interestingly, the match was against the same team who elbowed them out in the one-over eliminator earlier in the tournament.
With a daunting 193 to overhaul, captain cool came to the team's rescue with a match-winning effort of 54 in 29 balls to lead the team into their third successive semifinal. Defending champions Deccan Chargers were next on their radar and the team adjusted its frequency well to catch DC short by 38 runs for an easy win. Australian speedster Doug Bollinger was the hero with an inspired effort of 4/13.
The yellow-clad men were through to the final for the second time, facing first-time finalists Mumbai Indians (MI) who incidentally happened to be the season's most consistent team led by India's favourite son Sachin Tendulkar.
Batting first, the Chennai team posted a competitive 168, thanks to the talented Indian youngster Suresh Raina who made 57. The target didn't look stiff from the outset, especially considering the presence of Kieron Pollard in the Mumbai ranks. But Mumbai found it hard to answer the questions asked by the spin trio of Muttiah Muralitharan, Shadab Jakati and R Ashwin.
The three hushed the Mumbai batsmen by suffocating them for runs and a late onslaught by Pollard proved too late to prevent CSK from clinching their first IPL crown by 22 runs.
The IPL Champions open their campaign against Central Stags on September 11 in Durban and looking at the ammo Dhoni has at his disposal, their opponents either better be ready with a counter-attack or sharpen their reflexes to take evasive action.
