Four-time title-holders Chennai Super Kings' (CSK) batting coach Mike Hussey is in the awe of Moeen Ali's batting talent and he only realised the Englishman's prowess when he joined the CSK squad last year.
While speaking about Moeen Ali’s batting on Star Sports, Hussey said, "Moeen Ali, honestly, is an unbelievable player. I only watched him closely for the first time when he joined the CSK squad in the last season.
"So, I didn't realise how good a player he actually is. He's a beautiful batsman, a graceful player. Just the way he times the cricket ball is fantastic," he added.
When asked why doesn't CSK team display any semblance of panic despite defeats in back-to-back games, Hussey said, "It's been one of the traits of CSK over the years. Obviously, MS Dhoni who's captained the team for a long time and Stephen Fleming, the coach, are very calm and collected characters all the time.
"The first couple of games didn’t go as per the plans but we are certainly not panicking as these are early stages," Hussey said.
Meanwhile, Ravindra Jadeja-led CSK have so far looked like anything but IPL's defending champions and to effect a turnaround, new skipper Ravindra Jadeja will seek improvements on multiple fronts against Punjab Kings (PBKS) on Sunday (April 3).
CSK's title defense has begun on a disappointing note. After going down to Kolkata Knight Riders in the tournament opener, they lost to new entrants Lucknow Super Giants.
While the batting unit failed to fire in the opening game, heavy dew made life difficult for the bowlers as they failed to defend a target in excess of 200 runs.
Dwayne Bravo, now IPL's leading wicket-taker, has been the standout performer, but he needs support from others.
Skipper Jadeja has not been his usual self and needs to pull up his socks. After failing in the opening game, Chennai's batting clicked against Lucknow. A vintage Robin Uthappa, a clinical Mooen Ali and an equally hard-hitting Dube were seen and they would be more than keen to repeat their performances.
Ruturaj Gaikwad, last edition’s leading run scorer, needs to get runs under his belt. Mahendra Singh Dhoni can be expected to do the job in the middle-overs and can play the role of a finisher.
Chennai Super Kings' full squad:
MS Dhoni, Ravindra Jadeja (Captain), Moeen Ali, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Dwayne Bravo, Deepak Chahar, Ambati Rayadu, Robin Uthappa, Mitchell Santner, Chris Jordan, Adam Milne, Devon Conway, Shivam Dube, Dwaine Pretorius, Maheesh Theekshana, Rajvardhan Hangargekar, Tushar Deshpande, KM Asif, C Hari Nishaanth, N Jagadeesan, Subranshu Senapati, K Bhagath Verma, Prashant Solanki, Simarjeet Singh, Mukesh Choudhary.
