IPL's El Clasico: Rohit Sharma's best-laid plans v MS Dhoni's instincts

A huge gathering of fans took various vantage points available near the Pattabhiraman Gate to watch Chennai Super Kings train ahead of the first qualifier. They reasoned it was match-eve, and it was only normal for teams to train. The yellow flags were out, as an army huddled near the compound walls of the nets area. Shouldn't they have known by now what their Thala thinks of net sessions like these?

MS Dhoni equates net sessions amid the hectic IPL travel to last-minute cramming before exams. He isn't a fan of them. As the Chennai Super Kings flew out of Chandigarh on Monday morning, the team management prescribed rest upon landing in shirt-soaking muggy 38-degree Chennai heat with 86% humidity.

Dhoni himself took a happy detour, heading east to Ranchi to cast his vote in India's general elections before hopping on to another flight down south to Chennai. Traditional coaches and captains would've been wary of travel fatigue on the eve of IPL's El Clasico - as Rohit Sharma equated it to - especially given Dhoni's recent bout of illness and back issues that he has learnt to manage over the past few years. He thinks differently, pretty much like using spin to plot Sunil Narine's downfall even though the West Indian's strike-rate was an astounding 248 against that variety.

Dhoni knows Mumbai Indians have beaten Super Kings not once but twice this season. In fact, Mumbai have toppled Super Kings six times in their last seven matches against them. In 2013, Super Kings were beaten in the final. In 2015, they lost three of their four exchanges to Mumbai. Yet, ahead of the qualifier 1 on Tuesday at the MA Chidambaram Stadium, Mumbai wouldn't mind being a fly on the wall, inside that ice-cool Super Kings camp that is driven by instinct and game-smart.

The genesis of this rivalry took shape in 2010, when Super Kings last beat Mumbai at Chepauk. It was a season they would go on to win, with Dhoni and his Chinna Thala Suresh Raina masterminding a turnaround against a formidable Mumbai attack boasting of a Lasith Malinga at his peak, in the final. Jasprit Bumrah was still three years away from the IPL, and Super Kings were struggling at 68 for 3 in 12 overs, desperately needing a death-overs lift.

Dhoni arrived and Raina fired, helping Super Kings add 100 in the last eight. Mumbai made a royal mess of their strategy and execution, holding back Kieron Pollard even when the equation swelled to 69 off 31 balls.

Super Kings defended 168 with aggression, smartness and flair to fox Mumbai for their maiden IPL crown. Things have changed since; Super Kings haven't been able to replicate the same kind of success in big games, not certainly at home.

John Wright who would go on to coach Mumbai for two seasons in the aftermath spoke of that game as the tipping point, with the franchise starting afresh in 2011 by trying to draw a synergy between analytics and its implementation on the field. At its infancy in 2011, which coincided with Rohit's entry into the team, it has become a key part of their team meetings and planning over the years. But against Super Kings, it often goes beyond just this understanding because of the Dhoni factor.

Meanwhile, Super Kings' thinking is the exact opposite. Dhoni had said recently that they "don't pay a lot of attention to analytics." They rely on strengths of the individual and plan accordingly. Mumbai, on the other hand, look at match-ups, hard data, strike-zones and strike-rates at different phases of play and lengths that trouble a particular batsman. They map ideas in advance, rehearse it on the field, improvise until they get it right in the middle. Like their ploy to bowl Lasith Malinga to Andre Russell from around the wicket on Sunday to give him a new angle to work with.

This was a tactic Mahela Jayawardene, their coach, admitted was result of at least a week's planning. That is the attention to detail they are behind. They will know exactly how to stop Dhoni, like bowling a left-arm spinner when he arrives, to keep him quiet. So what if they don't have an experienced left-arm spinner? They will look to a rookie, like they did by handing Anukul Roy a debut during their previous exchange here. Except, Dhoni was ruled out of that game.

Mumbai have set plans which they fine-tune from time to time, like their use of a left-right pace combination. Mitchell Johnson and Lasith Malinga removed Super Kings' top four in the 2013 final. In 2015, it was Malinga and McClenaghan to the fore, the same protagonists who are still going strong in 2019. While McClenaghan fell away a little in the first half of the season, they had a like-for-like replacement in Jason Benhrendorff to do the job.

These well-set plans have resulted in a number of battles within a battle. Pollard almost always is ready to take on Dwayne Bravo when he comes on. He reads his cutters as well as anybody, holds his shape and delays his hitting until the last second. Malinga v Raina is another contest for the ages. When Malinga was at least 10kph quicker, Raina was always on the hop, expecting a bouncer. Malinga even nipped him out at backward short leg with a sharp bouncer in that 2013 final. Because these games have been fought out so intensely, with no side giving an inch, they've invariably played out a number of thrillers too.

Remember Dhoni's straight mid-off for Pollard in the 2010 final? Bravo's magic and Kedar Jadhav's scoop for a six off Mustafizur Rahman in last year's thriller? Dwayne Smith's dismantling of Ben Hilfenhaus in a sequence of 6,6,4 to win a game from nowhere in 2013? The emergence of Hardik Pandya in 2015 as he whacked Pawan Negi for four sixes with Mumbai needing 30 off 12? These subplots over the years have added spice to the contest between Rohit's plans and Dhoni's instincts.

Harbhajan Singh, Bravo and Ambati Rayudu, who have been on the other side, plotting and planning against Dhoni, are now his allies as CSK look to nail the first blow to secure direct entry into the final. Dhoni is all too aware of the insurance policy finishing in the top two provides, and while everyone else may be worried about Shane Watson's form at Chepauk, he's unlikely to fret over it, very well knowing Rohit and co. will do all they can to keep him quiet. Beyond the notebooks and plans on monitors, it's the execution he relies on and how both sides execute will make for fascinating viewing.