Magazine : 
CSK vs SRH IPL 2023: Can Markram & Co deal with Chennai Super Kings' spinners
They have been using the ‘spin-strangle-success’ formula with unquestionable consistency. Chennai Super Kings don’t like to experiment for the sake of it. Their best-laid plans are often the simplest, which reflects in how well they work despite the opposition knowing about them.
The contest at the MA Chidambaram stadium will thus be centred around the Sunrisers Hyderabad batters’ duel against CSK’s spinners, and the winner will most likely win their side the game. The trio of Ravindra Jadeja, Moeen Ali and Mahesh Theekshana must be licking their lips in anticipation of a typical Chepauk pitch that offers enough turn and grip to imperil across-the-line slogs.
With SRH losing a lot of wickets in powerplay overs and head coach Brian Lara calling the side’s middle-order a “work-in-progress”, the onus will be on experienced pros like Aiden Markram, Rahul Tripathi and Mayank Agarwal to blunt the trio’s threat.
It will also be interesting to see how Bazball proponent Harry Brook, who himself says that he has an issue against spin, responds to the spin challenge. Skipper Markram realises how big a bearing CSK’s tweakers can have on the encounter. “We have to appreciate the fact that they are really good spinners. When the conditions allow for the ball to spin, they become even better. We’d have to have our plans in place against them,” he said at the pre-match press conference.
On their batting prowess against spinners, Markram said: “It’s not a finished package yet, but through the competition so far, our playing of spin has improved. We are banking on that to continue.”
To prevent the hosts’ spinners from taking charge, SRH would need to string together big partnerships something that they have struggled to do. Markram admitted that the lack of big partnerships was hurting Hyderabad’s cause.
The home team has problems of its own. Suffering from a barrage of injuries, the pace attack’s performance has been lukewarm. The fielding too has left a lot to be desired, exemplified in the last game against the Royal Challengers Bangalore where they dropped four regulation catches.
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