There must have been a sense of despair at the CSK table when the Faf du Plessis bids came in quickly at the IPL 2022 auction. They were having trouble putting together the team that won the title in 2021, and they watched as one of the key players who helped them win their fourth IPL victory escaped their hands. The former South African captain, who would eventually succeed Virat Kohli as skipper, was valued by RCB at more than double the INR 3.2 crore that CSK withdrew for him.
The CSK formula for success in the competition has nearly always included at least one potent overseas opener. The majority of the scoring during the season has nearly always been done by openers for CSK during its best seasons in the IPL. Because of this and the fact that Du Plessis made 633 runs in the 2021 season, the franchise’s immediate survival depended on finding Ruturaj Gaikwad a good batting partner on that February night.
They threw significantly more at the alternatives that came after Du Plessis than they had for him, signaling that the race was on. They tried to secure Quinton de Kock after pulling out at 4.2 crores, got ambitious about getting David Warner next, and even tried to stray from their regular strategy by trying for another Indian opener in Devdutt Padikkal, offering as high as 5.5 crores. Following the failure of all previous attempts, the single bid of 1 cr for the New Zealand opener Devon Conway brought victory.
The fact that CSK’s openers perfectly complemented one another was the secret to their openers amassing 633 and 635 runs in the 2021 season. While his Indian partner needed some time to settle in, Du Plessis could dictate the tempo in the PowerPlay. But once he did, spin through the middle was no match for him. Together, they turned into a strategic nightmare for other captains trying to find a method to sever their alliance. Conway didn’t come in with the pomp or the sterling reputation of the former South African captain, but he has already proven the backroom staff was right to trust him to be the yang to Gaikwad’s yin.
A remarkably true Chepauk ground and an explosive opening stand that kicked off the team’s first points of the season added to CSK’s triumphant return home. Krunal Pandya and Krishnappa Gowtham had to learn the hard way that CSK now has two excellent spinners in Gaikwad and Conway. The LSG pacers, especially Mark Wood, had no chance of making early inroads owing to the current conditions because the Conway-Gaikwad partnership swiftly found its groove and reached a crescendo by the time KL Rahul went to two of his spinners.
Before the match on Monday, Gaikwad had an intriguing strike rate of just 128.92 against right-arm off-spin. He took the chance to improve upon that mark by driving Gowtham for three consecutive sixes in his single over. Conway, on the other hand, demonstrated why that was a match that was much in his favor by hitting two consecutive sixes over long-on off Pandya to raise the pair’s 100-run partnership in just the eighth over after earlier hitting 34 off 18 balls against left-arm spin. The fact that it happened so quickly and that it was already their third such stand—the most for a CSK starting pair in tournament history—made that milestone significant.
These figures from Conway and Gaikwad are tremendously encouraging in a CSK lineup that bats very deep. The fact that Deepak Chahar, a quality lower-order batsman with a T20 strike rate of 133.61, exits at No. 10 presents the two openers with the challenging dichotomy of playing with freedom and the obligation to routinely deliver flying beginnings. Although it’s a fine line to walk, the evidence from Monday night and many of their eight other outings together suggests that they are content to embrace the conflicting expectations.