IPL 2018: Chennai Super Kings are old wine in a new bottle

Chennai Super Kings CSK IPL 2018

They say wine gets better with age. Well, the same can be said about Chennai Super Kings.

At the start of IPL 2018, many questioned the Super Kings' team selection. There were question marks over the fitness of the side, with a lot of key players being aged over 30. Concerns were raised about whether these players would be able to last the entire season. A common belief is that T20 is a format meant for younger players, and that older players can't excel in it. But try telling that to CSK!

In terms of average age of the side, the Mahendra Singh Dhoni-led side is the oldest team in IPL 2018, with most of the players in its playing XI aged over 30. That said, the former champions were also the ones to reach the final first this time around, a feat that they repeated for a record seventh time.

This shows that old boys can boss the younger ones when it comes to cricket. It also highlights what experts have been saying for decades now -- performing well in cricket has more to do with skill and experience than fitness. There is no doubt that fitness is a very important aspect of playing the game, just like in any other sport. But if a player is highly skilled and experienced, he can very well get his team over the line, given that the game lasts only for four hours.

MS Dhoni, Ambati Rayudu, Suresh Raina, Harbhajan Singh, Shane Watson, Dwayne Bravo, Faf du Plessis and Imran Tahir are comfortably over 30-years-old, but have all proved their worth this season. Kedar Jadhav struggled with his fitness and was out of the tournament after a heroic performance in the season opener against Mumbai. But rest of the old warhorses in the Chennai camp have been nothing short of outstanding, contributing at some stage or the other to their team's success.

Barring Dhoni, who would still give any youngster a run for his money as far as fitness is concerned, the lot of them are a little slow on the field. But they have more than made up for it with some excellent performances, with both bat and ball.

Rayudu has had a dream season and is the leading run-scorer for CSK this season with 586 runs in 15 matches. He is fourth on the list of highest run-scorers in IPL 2018 and even wore the orange cap briefly during the qualifying stages. Not surprisingly, Raina too has been among the runs, with 413 runs in 14 games. And if you take a look at the all-rounders, Watson (438 runs, 6 wickets) and Bravo (141 runs, 13 wickets) have also proved their worth. Faf du Plessis showed his class and experience by keeping his calm and helping Chennai overcome Sunrisers Hyderabad in the first qualifier to make it to the finals.

Of course, let us not forget the main character of what has been a wonderful story. Dhoni, or Thalaiva as he is called in Chennai, has had his best IPL so far, this year. At the age of 36, he is still hitting the ball as hard as he did when he was 25, and personifies the saying 'form is temporary, class is permanent' every time he steps out on the field. With 455 runs in 15 matches, it would be safe to say that MSD has owned IPL 2018. His average of 75.83 is the best for any batsman this year and his strike rate of 150.66 shows that he has been really severe on opposition bowlers. Add to that his remarkable captaincy and tactics, and Captain Cool looks classes apart from other players.

The best thing about Chennai's campaign is that in every match, someone or the other put his hand up and got the job done, be it Bravo in the season opener or du Plessis in the first qualifier. Rayudu, Watson and Dhoni have all been consistent throughout the season. In a nutshell, these boys have shown the world of cricket that age is just a number and that they are, quite literally, the Super Kings of IPL 2018.