Champions Chennai look to extend fairytale

Chennai Super Kings' exceptional run of form has been built on the principle of unity, a theme also visible in the other team led by MS Dhoni. While most sides used the 2011 auction as an opportunity to clean out the closet, Chennai focussed on minimising churn. The four best players were held back, and the franchise fought hard to repurchase the likes of R Ashwin, Doug Bollinger, Mike Hussey, Shadab Jakati and S Badrinath from the auction pool. With a solid bunch of performers at their disposal, and the added advantage of familiarity among their ranks, Chennai are primed for another good season.

On-field success is only one half of Chennai's story, though. Chennai is arguably the most successfully branded IPL franchises, with their PR campaign capturing the very essence of cricket on the streets and beaches of the city. Year after year, they come up with the most endearing promos, with everyone from Dhoni to Bollinger joining the Chennai layman in the "Whistle Podu" chorus. The party will resume in full force at Chepauk when they stride out in their yellow jerseys on Friday.

Until that famous bat-twirl after the winning six in the World Cup, the most enduring MS Dhoni image was the uppercut he landed on his own helmet after whacking Chennai into the 2010 IPL semi-finals. It was a rare show of emotion from a man who seldom loses his composure on the field. As wicketkeeper-captain, Dhoni is the team's brains and the nerve-centre rolled into one. His perceptive use of R Ashwin with the new ball, and positioning of a very straight mid-off to snare Kieron Pollard in the 2010 final are now part of IPL folklore.

Michael Hussey is an unusual choice at the top, yet Chennai's decision to open with him ensures stability and a solid foundation for the muscular middle order to launch from. After a personally fulfilling Ashes, Hussey was laid low by a serious hamstring injury that kept him out of the initial stages of the World Cup. With Matthew Hayden missing in action this year, Hussey should face no hindrance in resuming his alliance with M Vijay at the top of the order. He will, however, join the party a little late after Australia's one-day tour of Bangladesh.

R Ashwin's prowess with the new ball, bowling to fields that are pulled in, is based on his accuracy. He may not be able to bowl six different balls in an over, yet he can get each one of them to land them on the same spot, and get the odd one to surprise the batsman by going away. Having picked up the carom ball by watching Ajantha Mendis bowling in Chepauk before he became an international sensation, Ashwin has become as lethal in its use as the inventor himself. Ashwin's biggest strength, though, is not his variety, but his reluctance to over-use it.

Chennai have picked wisely in including Nuwan Kulasekara and Tim Southee for the new season. Their bowling attack in past editions often included three spinners, but this time they have two high-quality seaming options to fall back on. Both Kulasekara and Southee rely on exemplary seam position, and while Southee's stock ball is the outswinger, Kulasekara specialises in mixing legcutters with huge induckers. Bollinger and Morkel are likely to be the first-choice fast bowlers, but Southee and Kulasekara could come into the picture as the tournament wears on.

Twenty20 was clearly not Muttiah Muralitharan's format, yet he found a way to be effective, by going round the wicket and twirling his offspinners and doosras from the same spot around middle and off. He formed a formidable tweak-trio with Ashwin and Shadab Jakati, and Chennai - the team and the city - will miss his presence and personality, as much as his immense skills.

S Badrinath's India days might be behind him, but year after year he turns in stellar middle-order performances for Chennai. Badrinath's methods will not fill up the stands - his high elbow, straight bat and along-the-ground shots are incongruous in this format, but he is the kind of man Dhoni backs. Badrinath's domestic record speaks of a man whose appetite for runs borders on gluttony. He provides the stability in a middle order that features attackers like Raina, Morkel and Dhoni himself. Expect more of those typically unsung, unnoticed but invaluable gems from Badrinath this season.

Chennai have been the most consistent IPL team, having made the semi-finals in each edition of the tournament. Not once was their passage into the last four straightforward - at one point in the 2010 season, they were languishing at seventh in a field of eight teams - but each time they managed to find a game-breaking performance to see them through trouble. In 2008, they had the upperhand for most of the final against Rajasthan before losing off the last ball. Their 2009 campaign was halted at the semi-final stage by Bangalore, powered by a cool innings from Manish Pandey. Chennai were unstoppable at the business end of the 2010 edition, and easily trumped a nervous Mumbai in the final.