CSK: A Dynasty

dynasty (n): A dynasty is a sequence of rulers considered members of the same family.In sports, the concept of a dynasty is a team that dominates its sport for more than a couple of years. Over the years there have been many a dynasty- Australia in cricket over the last two decades, Windies in the late 70s and early 80s, Federer's one man tennis dynasty, New England Patriots football, Yankees in the 1996-2001 era, Celtics with Bill Russell and so on. Easy as it might be to list these sporting dynasties, it is infinitely hard for the franchises and teams themselves to be part of one such- as the dynasty's reign stretches, so does the pressure.Four years of IPL is a good sample space to anoint a dynasty if there was one. CSK happens to be an easy choice. A last ball loss in the first IPL, a semi-final appearance in the second one, champions in IPL 3 and now champions again in IPL 4. Consistency is the first step towards greatness and consistent, and the Super Kings have been the epitome of that.IPL4 was a big challenge- one that was supposed to determine if they were just a very good team or one destined for greatness. Dhoni's men responded and how. With a team that underwent quite a few changes and coming off a grueling World Cup, the SuperKings started wobbly but came back strong and pummeled their opponents to submission. An all round effort with great batting, consistent bowling and excellent fielding all but ensured they were the class of 2011. Unlike other one dimensional teams like RCB (a.k.a Team Gayle) or MI (Malinga and Sachin being the key elements here), the CSK have gotten good performances from every player in the team. An all round effort from the best team in the league, 4 years running.Will CSK be able to threepeat?. Only time will tell. But what is encouraging is the excellent peformances from the local lads- Badrinath, Vijay, Ashwin and Anirudha (early part of the tournament). If CSK can continue to have the services of Raina in addition to the local lads, they will have a good team for years to come. As for the foreign elements, Morkel, Bollinger and Hussey were critical elements of IPL 4 campaign and hopefully some or all of them can be retained. And of course there is Dhoni. It is hard to visualize CSK sans Dhoni right now but at some point there is going to be an insane bid for Dhoni's services. Someone will have to take the mantle then but for now, Dhoni hopefully is happy with spending his summers in Chennai.Lastly, one cant imagine CSK winning this year without their stellar campaign at home. Chidambaram stadium has given the home team so much love and support that it needs to be deemed the 12th player. That player will continue to play for the Super Kings, come rain or shine.Here is to IPL domination for years to come. Whistle Podu!