Familiar
frames
rolled
in.
Faf
du
Plessis
anchored
the
Chennai
Super
Kings
innings
in
his
100th
match
for
the
franchise
as
he
has
done
several
times,
Ravindra
Jadeja
picked
up
a
couple
of
crucial
wickets,
Dwayne
Bravo
was
miserly
landing
the
assortment
of
slow
balls
to
perplex
batsmen,
and
Dhoni
masterminded
all
that
from
behind
the
wicket
as
Kolkata
Knight
Riders
wilted.

The
only
missing
link
to
the
past
was
Suresh
Raina,
who
watched
the
unfolding
action
from
the
sidelines.
Raina
made
way
for
Robin
Uthappa
after
12
games
this
season.

But
there
was
an
underlying
sadness
watching
them
in
action.
Together
for
one
last
time?
May
be!
The
mega
auction
ahead
of
IPL
2022
is
just
around
the
corner
and
it
is
highly
unlikely
that
the
Super
Kings
would
want
to
reunite
all
of
them
together
considering
the
new
squad
will
form
the
fulcrum
of
CSK
for
three
years
at
least.

It
has
been
the
strategy
of
Chennai
in
the
previous
auctions
as
they
created
a
core
unit
around
Dhoni,
Faf,
Raina,
Jadeja,
Bravo
and
added
Ambati
Rayudu
to
it
a
bit
later.
Now,
they
are
all
into
35+
age
category,
often
leading
to
Dad’s
Army
trolls.

Chennai
coach
Stephen
Fleming
did
not
commit
it
a
change
in
era
but
did
not
overrule
it
altogether.
After
all,
no
coach
would
want
to
see
a
closely
knit,
highly
successful
group
getting
disbanded,
especially
after
landing
another
title.

“We
don’t
know.
There
is
some
emotion
around
it.
Whenever
you
get
to
the
end
of
the
cycle,
you’re
not
going
to
get
some
players
back.
There
is
some
emotion
around
these
last
games,
and
when
you
win
it
it’s
a
celebration
but
also
a
recognition
of
what
the
players
have
put
in.

“Chennai
has
always
had
a
system
that
if
you
can
maintain
players
and
keep
them
with
you
for
a
long
time,
you
get
the
best
out
of
them,
and,
there
are
some
players
here
that
have
been
with
us
for
a
long
time,
and
it’ll
be
interesting
to
see
over
the
next
few
months
how
it
pans
out.
 
“Most
teams
are
probably
going
to
have
a
bit
of
change
to
them,
and
we
will
be
one,
but
how
that
looks
like,
it’s
too
early
to
tell,”
Fleming
said
in
the
post
match
press
conference.

Deep
down,
many
of
these
players
too
might
be
knowing
that
this
could
be
the
last
time
they
donned
the
yellow
of
CSK.

But
it
hardly
mattered
to
them
as
they
went
about
their
business
as
usual.
None
exemplified
this
more
than
Faf.
He
defied
the
energy=sapping,
fluid=draining
36
degrees
Celsius
heat
of
Dubai
to
make
an
86.

It
was
that
archetypal
Faf
innings
that
he
often
plays
for
CSK.
He
hammered
runs
at
a
strike
rate
around
159
before
settling
into
a
calmer
tempo,
perhaps
owing
to
that
heat
and
mustered
only
34
runs
off
the
last
24
balls
he
faced.

An
immensely
fit
person,
Faf
was
struggling
for
his
second
run
in
the
latter
half
of
his
innings,
and
as
CSK
coasted
to
win
Faf
watched
it
for
a
while
from
the
dug
out.

But
the
dwindling
rate
of
Faf
innings
hardly
mattered
as
Robin
Uthappa,
Moeen
Ali
and
Ruturaj
Gaikwad
batted
around
the
South
African
to
take
Chennai
to
an
imposing
total
in
the
final.

Once
they
reached
192,
it
was
always
going
to
be
an
uphill
climb
for
the
Knight
Riders
because
their
middle
order
batting
has
been
iffy
throughout
the
tournament,
and
the
batting
burden
was
shared
between
Venkatesh
Iyer
and
Shubman
Gill.

Even
though
Gill
and
Iyer
gave
a
good
beginning,
193
remained
out
of
KKR
reach
and
there
was
no
miracle
return
to
form
by
their
middle=order
batsmen,
rather
the
Chennai
bowlers
did
not
allow
it.

They
took
the
match
to
its
logical
conclusion,
a
fourth
title
for
the
CSK.
Even
the
presentation
ceremony
was
laden
with
conversant
sights.
Dhoni
received
the
IPL
trophy
from
Sorav
Ganguly
and
handed
it
over
to
Deepak
Chahar
as
the
whole
squad
slipped
into
delirious
celebration.

A
half=smiling
Dhoni
watched
it
with
his
arms
around
CSK
bowling
coach
Eric
Simons.

He
was
drinking
in
all
that
joy
and
verve,
perhaps
for
one
last
time.
He
even
dropped
a
faint
hint
during
the
presentation
ceremony.

“With
two
new
teams
coming
in…we
have
to
decide
what
is
good
for
CSK.
It’s
not
about
me
being
there
in
top-three
or
four.
It’s
about
making
a
strong
core
to
ensure
the
franchise
doesn’t
suffer.
The
core
group,
we
have
to
have
a
hard
look
to
see
who
can
contribute
for
the
next
10
years,
”
Dhoni
said
in
that
customary
matter
of
fact
tone.

All
the
signs
point
to
a
farewell.
If
it
is
indeed,
it
was
a
helluva
good
one!