IPL 2020: Brian Lara Labels Lack Of Youth In CSK As The Reason For Their Downfall This Season

Former West Indies skipper, Brian Lara feels that plenty of older players in the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) camp has underperformed this season. He also laments on the lack of youngsters in the CSK lineup as one of the key reasons for their disappointing tournament.

CSK has had a forgettable IPL 2020, as for the first time in IPL history the yellow army will not go past the league stage. CSK currently languishes at the bottom of the points table and has suffered an unprecedented 8 losses in 12 games.

I think CSK have got a lot of older players: Brian Lara

Since CSK’s return in 2018, the age of its players has been a major talking point. However, by winning the title in 2018. and reaching the final in 2019, CSK proved that experience matters so much more than youth. Their choice to keep the same squad with very few changes for the third straight year has now bitten them back.

Senior players haven’t performed up to the expectations, and Brian Lara feels this is the reason for their downfall. The cricketer-turned-commentator, while talking on Star Sports, said that there aren’t many young players in the CSK line-up. He said that even their overseas players – barring Sam Curran – are now aged and CSK’s dictum of experience over youth has turned upside down for them this season.

While speaking on Star Sports Select Dugout, Brian Lara said, “I think they (CSK) have got a lot of older players. There are not any young players coming through the line-up. You look at it. Even their overseas players, they have been around for a long time. So, they have backed experience over youth, and this has really turned upside down for them. It’s just an unbelievable season so far.” 

The former left-hander also said that fans would have hoped Dhoni to weave his magic and turn things around when CSK was in a must-win situation, but that just didn’t happen. He thinks that Chennai should now focus on building a team for next season and give opportunities to youngsters they have in their squad.

“You know, every time they turn up, we’re very hopeful that CSK is going to turn it around. We know 3-4 games ago they were in a little bit of a situation where they had to start winning.

“We all came here thinking this was going to be the time when Dhoni turns things around with his team. And game after game, it just went, and they just kept hoping. But it’s a situation where they can just try to build from next year. In the few coming games that they have, see what they can do with the younger players with they’ve got,” Brian Lara added.

Chennai will face Kolkata on Thursday, which is an important game for KKR. Though CSK is out of the tournament, they would want to treat their fans with some entertainment in the last couple of games.

Also Read: Kuldeep Yadav Should Play Against CSK: Virender Sehwag