Former Australian all-rounder Shane Watson has made an alarming prediction for his former IPL team Chennai Super Kings as the defending champions eye a playoff spot in the ongoing IPL 2024.
CSK’s playoff hopes suffered a major blow with a heavy seven-wicket defeat against the Punjab Kings at the MA Chidambaram Stadium on Wednesday (May 1). It was CSK’s second home defeat this season. Asked to bat first, the reigning champions ended their innings with a modest 163/3 in 20 overs with only captain Ruturaj Gaikwad showing some difficulty with the bat.
Gaikwad scored 62 off 48 balls to help his side post a total of over 160. No other CSK batsman could reach the 30-run mark. For PBKS, Harpreet Brar starred with the ball and took two wickets for just 17 runs in his four overs. With the bat, PBKS managed the total in just 17.5 overs to keep their playoff hopes alive.
Shane Watson predicts difficult road ahead for CSK:
While CSK are still in the top four of the IPL 2024 points table, they are in a position where they cannot afford any further slip-ups. They have five wins and as many losses so far and need to string together a string of wins to progress to the next round.
While only time will tell how things pan out for the five-time champions, Shane Watson believes it won’t be an easy road for his former team. The Australian star began by pointing out the injury setbacks CSK has suffered recently. Matheesha Pathirana and Tushar Deshpande missed the PBKS game due to ailments and illnesses respectively.
During the match, CSK suffered another major blow when Deepak Chahar left the field after bowling just two balls. CSK is also expected to be without the services of Bangladesh pacer Mustafizur Rahman for the rest of the tournament as the fast bowler is set to return home for the T20I series against Zimbabwe.
“Surely. This is not an easy run home. The things that make it worse are their injury concerns and their bowling stocks. This will be the biggest challenge they face CSK. There were moments during this tournament when it seemed like she had no weakness and no holes,” Watson said on JioCinema.
“Then at certain times we saw gaps appear and now Mustafizur Rahman has played his last game because of the injuries and worries they have. There will have to be a lot of back and forth, something CSK is not known for.
“They have had so much success in the past with continuity in their playing group. There will be a lot of discussions about making the best combinations available for home games.” Watson added.
CSK will look to get back to winning ways and avenge their defeat against PBKS when they face them again in Dharamsala on May 5.