When the last three balls were left, MS Dhoni came to bat for CSK.
Introduction: CSK’s IPL 2024 Campaign
Chennai Super Kings have also lost their second match of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 campaign. Sunrisers lost to Hyderabad for the first time on Friday. At the end of this match, everyone was in special need of MS Dhoni. But wicketkeeper-batsman MS Dhoni came to bat with only three balls remaining. Former England captain Michael Vaughan appeared unhappy with the decision of CSK captain Ruturaj Gaikwad. In which he said that Dhoni should have been sent higher in the batting order. Even former Indian all-rounder Irfan Pathan questioned Ruturaj’s decision. He said that if Dhoni had been sent first then perhaps CSK could have scored more runs.
The Critical Moment: MS Dhoni Entry with Three Balls Left
Super Kings last played the match against Delhi Capitals. So that time Dhoni had performed brilliantly with the bat. He had scored 37 runs in 16 balls. Yet he was sent to bat against Sunrisers when only 3 balls were left in the innings. While talking on Cricbuzz, Vaughan was calling this decision wrong.
He said, “I am surprised by what MS Dhoni did in the last game. He was also saying that he should have come to bat first. I don’t understand why he got out for just three balls.”
Critiques and Analysis: Irfan Pathan’s View
Even former Irfan Pathan feels that if MS Dhoni had come to bat early, things might have been different. He could have responded to bowlers like SRH’s Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Jaydev Undakat in a better way.Amid CSK’s six-wicket defeat, he tweeted, “Captain Ruturaj Gaikwad was wrong. Considering the off-cutter plan in the pitch and in the match against Bhuvi and Unadkat, right-handed batsman Dhoni should be given the nod in this match against SRH.” Should have batted higher in the order.
Captain’s Regret: Ruturaj Gaikwad’s Admission
Talking about the game, CSK captain Ruturaj also admitted that he had taken a wrong decision regarding MS Dhoni. The team had to struggle to score in the last 5 overs. Gave a lot of runs in the powerplay.
“To be honest, I thought it was a very slow pitch. They bowled well in the back-end. Kept the game under control and didn’t give us a chance to take advantage. I thought we did well at the beginning of the match Was.” But he made a good comeback later. It was a pitch of black soil. So we expected the pitch to be slow, but it got slower and they made good use of the boundary size. We gave away too many runs in the batting PP. A catch was missed and an expensive over too. Still, taking him till the 19th over was a great effort.
“I thought anything around 170-175 would have been a good score for us. There was some dew left in the end. But even in the 15th-16th over, Moeen spun the ball. So I don’t think that will happen on the pitch during the game. There was a lot of change,” he said.