It has been over a year since MS Dhoni announced his retirement from international cricket, and the lack of match practice goes all the way back to the 2019 World Cup. Besides the IPL games, he has not featured in any cricketing action in the last 2 years and it is starting to show in his batting.
On Monday, CSK posted 136 runs against the Delhi Capitals and lost by bare margins. Shimron Hetmyer’s late cameo sealed an impressive win for the Capitals, and it is likely that Chennai might jeopardise with their top two spots with this performance.
MS Dhoni had a torrid contribution with the bat, which reflected in their defeat at the end of the day. He scored just 18 runs and consumed 27 balls, scoring no boundaries in a painful knock to witness for their fans. Ambati Rayudu’s unbeaten half-century propelled them to a score past 130, which otherwise could’ve been less than 110.
Talking about Dhoni’s performance with the bat, Stephen Fleming noted that he wasn’t the only person struggling with the willow. The head coach of the Chennai Super Kings said that it was a tough track to play shots freely, and both teams had a tough time batting on it.
“Well, he [Dhoni] wasn’t the only one who struggled. It was a difficult day for strokeplay. When 137 [136] is almost enough, I think it was a tough wicket to score big on in terms of the big shots.
So both teams struggled with that towards the end of the innings. Sometimes you set your sights too high, [want] too many, and probably we were only 10-15 runs short of having a match-winning score,”
he said.
The CSK nearly pulled off a stunning result despite not having the best of days. But the moment Krishnappa Gowtham dropped a crucial catch of Shimron Hetmyer at long-on, DC seized the opportunity and rallied through.
Chennai will play their final group stage game against the Royal Challengers Bangalore, and not winning that game could jeopardise their hopes of finishing in the top two, ultimately stalling their chance of winning their 4th IPL title.
