Super Kings: More than the sum of their parts

If youre a CSK supporter,then the world cannot possibly be any more jovial than it already is.

If youre a Chennai Super Kings supporter,then the world cannot possibly be any more jovial than it already is. Maybe its something to do with the jersey colour that resembles a certain international side who achieved invincibility in the canary yellow,but the aura around the Super Kings in the IPL empowers its fans with more benefits and bragging rights than any other franchise in the system.

To list a few achievements,the defending champions have reached every IPL final played in India; in Mahendra Singh Dhoni they possess a captain who has won almost everything club and country cricket has to offer; and the side has revamped the MA Chidambaram Stadium at Chepauk into a fortress with no losses this season.

But the real talking point of Team Chennai in this edition of the IPL has been their wrought iron like middle-order. In Suresh Raina,Subramaniam Badrinath,Albie Morkel and Dhoni,Chennai own the most formidable fighting unit any club has seen a group of players who turn matches on its head all on their own. Now in front of all those crazed supporters at the MA Chidambaram Stadium,Dhoni and his revered middle-order will try and become the first franchise to win the trophy in front of their home fans.

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Apart from Raina,whose unbeaten 73 culled Royal Challengers Bangalores efforts to make it to the final in the first eliminator,none of the aforementioned batters feature in the top 10 list. But each of their runs for Chennai,especially during a chase,has been invaluable. Raina has been the best finisher of the lot with 430 runs,and four half-tons to his credit,while Dhoni on the other hand,took some time to hit his stride,but ever since,the Chennai skipper come into his own,notching up 370 runs at the rate of knots during the fag end of the season. But the real mainstay in the Chennai backbone has been the diminutive Subramaniam Badrinath.

If you take a look at the cumulative stats of all sixes in the history of the IPL,one-fourth of the top-20 list is cluttered by Chennais batsmen. So while all the hunky-dory hitters are busy clearing the ropes,and there are plenty of them in Chennai,Badri has been a lone expection. The fact that the onus is not on him,allows him to play according to the need of the hour,usually stealing singles and piercing fielders for carpet boundaries. With five fifties pasted against his name this season,Badrinaths 396 at a very healthy average of 56.57 has even earned him a Team India call-up for his consistency down the order.

So while Raina was powering away all those lusty hits against the hapless Bangalore bowlers,Badri played his natural game – striking a match winning 34 in quick time. Speaking immediately after the win over Bangalore,a team that they will meet once again in the final,Dhoni put his cards on the table and said: We know that we have the firepower to chase anything.

With a middle-order like his,Dhoni is middle-order show away from walking his talk to a second straight trophy. And the ardent CSK fan thought life couldnt get any better.

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