The 12th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) concluded two days ago. Chennai Super Kings (CSK) had a fantastic season. MS Dhoni and his team won the title for the fourth time after overcoming a setback of the previous season. CSK has been the most consistent team in the IPL over the last 12 years. They have a 60% winning rate, and have qualified for the play-offs 11 times and reaching the finals 9 times. On a lighter note, it was even stated that all remaining teams will compete against each other for the opportunity to play with CSK in the finals. Their comeback stories are fairytale-like. They won the championship in 2018 after returning from a two-year ban. A similar story played out in 2021, when they were pushed to the lower end of the table in 2020, the only year in which they did not qualify for the play-offs.
As a CSK supporter, I’ve been curious about what makes them so successful and consistent. What they show on the field is only one side of story. Much more occurs in the backend, and there is undoubtedly a method to the madness known as performance. Allow me to jot down a few thoughts on this. There is undoubtedly much to learn about leadership and team building.
India Cements and Cricket Management
As most of us are aware, India Cements owns the CSK franchise. Their history with cricket dates all the way back to 1965. It employed cricketers when there were few sponsors or large sums of money involved. It enabled players to pursue a career in sports, which was unheard of in the 1960s. India cements employed first-generation cricketers such as Srinivasan Venkataraghavan, Laxman Sivaramakrishnan, and VB Chandrasekhar. It even has Rahul Dravid, MS Dhoni, and 100 other players on their payroll. Many of them went on to play for India and become sports legends. India Cements also had founded multiple teams at the Chennai league level by identifying and developing many young players before the concept of the IPL and T20 was even conceived. Mr Kasi Viswanathan, the CEO of CSK, was the secretary of the Tamil Nadu Cricket Association and worked for India Cements.
This depth of cricketing expertise distinguishes CSK from other franchises. They have a thorough understanding of player selection, grooming, sportsman mindset, and dressing room dynamics. Other franchises, on the other hand, are owned by businesspeople or Bollywood actors who may lack hands-on experience and expertise in building cricket teams.
The X Factor – Mahindra Singh Dhoni
Despite all the criticism, Mahendra Singh Dhoni has once again proven that he is CSK’s X factor. By keeping a long-term perspective, MSD, coach Stephen Fleming, as well as CSK management, created a team based on a philosophy. It can be summarized as follows:
- Choose players based on their potential rather than their current form or popularity. Allow them with enough room to make mistakes, learn, and develop into strong characters.
- Maintain low player churn by forming a core group with 80 percent of the players remaining in the team across seasons. Even if a player’s form isn’t great during a season, don’t drop them.
- Make your dressing room a happy and calm place. Dhoni ensures that each player is given sufficient freedom to express themselves, going beyond metrics, current form, and player popularity.
This eventually results in the formation of a team of match winners or big match players. Shane Watson, Suresh Raina, Ravindra Jadeja, Faf du Plessis, Dwayne Bravo, and Ambati Rayudu are the core players in the squad. Any one or two of them firing on a specific match can turn the tide of the game. The combination of these senior players with younger players like Ruthuraj Gaikwad, Jagadeesan, and Sam Curran results in a very strong team. Many other young players have yet to play a single match in the IPL 2021, and they are given an atmosphere in which they feel being a part of the team.
If any of the playing eleven are not performing well, they are not immediately pushed out of the starting eleven or even the franchise. Consider Moeen Ali in IPL 2021. He was out of form, but he never dropped out of the playing eleven. This makes them stronger and better able to perform in big matches like finals. Even older players who have retired from the IPL, such as Lakshmipathy Balaji and Mike Hussey, are still part of the system. CSK faced a lot of criticism due to their poor performance in 2020, when they failed to qualify for the play-offs for the first time. It even sparked rumours that they are planning a major player reshuffle. However, because their foundational philosophy is so strong, they made very few changes between 2020 and 2021.
Furthermore, MSD’s on-field strategies such as bowling changes, field placements, pitch reading, changing the batting order, and so on work like a charm. Players respond really well to these changes, resulting in excellent results for the team.
And I’m not going to get into MSD’s ability to finish games 🙂
Peaking at the Right Time
CSK players understand that playing 14 league matches in a season is a long haul activity. Given the unpredictability of T20 format, any team is bound to lose games. CSK’s beauty is that they know when to lose. For example, in the 2021 season, they won 9 of their first 11 games and qualified for the play-offs. However, they lost the next three matches in a row to RR, DC, and PBKS. In fact, losing to PBKS was entirely predictable. When such failures occur, CSK is frequently rebuked for playing without intent, among other things. The plan is to use these failures to make necessary course corrections for important matches. We’ve seen teams like DC win almost all of their league games but falter in the play-offs. They most likely peak too soon and run out of gas when the situation calls for it.
Furthermore, MSD saves some key players for the play-offs and introduces them as a surprise package. One such example is putting Robin Uthappa in the crucial number 3 position during the play-offs. In the past, he has used players like Bravo similarly. CSK understands that having a win-it-all attitude is not useful, but winning when it matters is.
Family and Fans
I’m not sure if any other team has such a strong bond not only among its players but also with their families. The photo taken after the game reveals a lot about their culture. It’s a family environment, whether it’s children of players playing together, spouses watching the game from a common area, Deepak Chahar proposing to his girlfriend, or an elderly lady (not sure who she is) sharing the winning stage. As previously stated, India Cement’s ability to understand players’ mindset is critical in this situation.
And how could I overlook CSK’s fan base? CSK connects with the common man in a variety of ways, from creating a Gaana (Local Tamil song) to painting their house yellow. They believe that ‘their team’ should win. I’m not sure if any other franchise will have such a large and emotional fan base and support as CSK. I’m not saying it helps them win games, but it does play an important role in keeping the players’ morale high.
Conclusion
Cricket and life have many parallels in my opinion. That’s probably because I’ve had an interest in it since I was a child. CSK has provided fans with not only pure joy, but also very important lessons in terms of vision, leadership, and team building over the years. As MSD stated during the grand final presentation ceremony, their first 10-year vision has been realized, and it is now time to build for the next decade. While we don’t know what CSK has in store for us, we can be confident that their decisions will be based on solid foundations.
Until then whistle podu for CSK and their amazing run in IPL 2021 🙂
