For former Australia and Chennai Super Kings opener Matthew Hayden, the thing that stands out most between Indian Premier League finalists Chennai Super Kings and Mumbai Indians is their working structure.
Speaking to Sportstar after a Star Sports-organised Chennai Super Kings fan event at Chepauk in Chennai on Saturday, Hayden said, “A very family-oriented (structure), relying on four or five players forms the base of each franchise. The only difference is that Mumbai Indians is run by a corporate structure... They run it like a business and corporations are not cricket heads. It is difficult for corporations to get principles like loyalty and game awareness and things like that, whereas India Cements and Tamil Nadu are a very cricket-focused association with feeder systems through Tamil Nadu Premier League and Tamil Nadu Cricket.”
Chennai Super Kings goes up against its most formidable opponent Mumbai Indians in the IPL final at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium on Sunday.
Being dubbed as the ‘El Clasico,’ Mumbai Indians walks into this contest as the clear favourite, as it has won all the three matches against Chennai Super Kings this season. Hayden, however, believes the trophy would land in the CSK cabinet for a record fourth time this year.
“CSK (will win). Numbers don’t really matter in a final. Neither (team) has played their best cricket this time. In the last couple of games some of Mumbai Indian players like Suryakumar Yadav and Rohit Sharma have started to come into form. So, both sides have got their vulnerabilities,” he said.
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“The last three contests have been one-sided towards Mumbai Indians. CSK are a different side to what they have played in the three games (against MI) for different reasons. MS Dhoni was missing which was enormous for CSK and they had a bad night in the first qualifier. That can happen in any tournament. But in the second qualifier, CSK got the balance spot on, especially at the top of the order.”
The 47-year-old batsman, who was a part of the CSK side which lifted the trophy in 2010, believes fielding has been its Achilles heel. “There is nothing that they (CSK) can change as of now. They are a poor fielding side. In the finals where runs are a premium that can really hurt.”
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