Dubai: The back-to-back wins of Chennai Super Kings (CSK) may have kept their chances alive in the IPL-3 so far, but one of the famous Chennai fans feels their bowling still has a lot of catching up to do if they want to go the distance.
"The fact that they won by a thin margin even after notching up close to 250 runs tells its own story. The bowlers have to get their act right if the CSK has to go the entire distance," says W.V. Raman, the former Test opener.
Speaking to Gulf News after the yellow shirts won a run-fest against Rajasthan Royals at home on Saturday, Raman felt that the arrival of Doug Bollinger — the stingy medium pacer from Australia — could not have been better-timed.
"He [Bollinger] has already made his mark on arrival against the Royals and I am sure he will be a regular member in the eleven," said Raman, who had a chequered career while playing for India between 1988 and 1997.
The new ball attack of Chennai Super Kings, comprising of the likes of Indian hopefuls Manpreet Goni and Sudip Tyagi, has not been able to inspire enough confidence in skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni and it was almost as a desperate measure that the team management had to resort to Bollinger.
Worthy prospect
Asked if they should have gone for little more aggressive buying in the last auction — with Andrew Flintoff already written off for the season — Raman said: "They [CSK] bid for Kieron Pollard, but eventually lost out. However, I for one felt that Makhaya Ntini was worth a try. The South African has the experience and can still surprise the batsmen with pace but with Bollinger joining the squad, the team will feel that they have an extra teeth of the attack."
Known for a shrewd cricketing brain (he had captained his state Tamil Nadu and is currently the coach), the former stylish opening batsman said the two wins have certainly given Chennai the fillip they were looking for.
"In this format, things can change quickly either way. The CSK will, hence, hope to keep the momentum going," Raman said.
W.V. was also all praise for the explosive century by Murali Vijay, whose 127 off 56 balls propelled the team to the highest total of the IPL so far.
"Well, somebody had to pull out something special and ironically, it was Vijay in both the wins. I say ironically because he was not thought of one who could clobber the bowling and hence did not figure in the eleven regularly. However, he has proved yet again that a batsman who has the skill sets to perform in duration games can adapt to the shorter version," he added.
