Chennai Super Kings have been one of the most consistent teams in IPL history and shown they have a knack of getting the best out of players no matter which stage of his career one might be. Ajinkya Rahane is a prime example who seems to be enjoying himself, scoring runs at a rapid pace after having been picked up at his base price last December.
Last season CSK finished second from bottom on the points table. However, in IPL 2023, they have qualified for the playoffs after finishing second from top.
So what makes CSK and their captain MS Dhoni different from other franchises?
CSK allrounder Moeen Ali feels that the fact that their captain and coaches do not lose faith in a player quickly is one of the prime reasons why they are so succesfull.
“What separates MS from everybody else as captain in many ways is that, say guys have a couple of bad games, especially in the first couple of games, and I think every other team would drop the player or say ‘look you are probably not good enough right now’,” Moeen told CSK. “And that’s where MS sees things and coaches see things in players. They see the potential and give them chances. Most teams don’t do that. Most teams don’t stick with the players long.”
Moeen has now been part of CSK for three seasons and understands how the team culture well.
“I think the captain is very important and he obviously has been very important. At the end of the day, the youngsters have to bowl the ball. Those guys have probably played more than they expected to play. They start with injuries and they have taken their chances amazingly well,” the 35-year-old said.
Moeen explains that the the competition for every spot in a good team is quite high meaning each time a player gets a chance, he has to capitalise. And since the chances are rare, it gets ingrained into the mindset of the players that they have to make the best of it.
So to instill the confidence, especially among the youngsters, the role of coach and captain becomes vital, Moeen said.
“In a good team, the competition is high. There are people always fighting for places. So, what happens is you take that responsibility and you want to take your chance. And these chances don’t come very often. So that mindset changes from the player that right ‘I need to take my chance’. But saying that, you need the captain to really speak to the players and the bowling coaches. And that’s where CSK is very special, because that’s what they do and they give these guys confidence,” he said.
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