Following CSK crushing eight-wicket loss toKKR at the MA Chidambaram Stadium on Friday, April 11, MS Dhoni made a despondent appearance. As the CSK batters were limited to just 103/9, their lowest score at Chepauk, the renowned wicketkeeper-batter lamented their lack of effort. This came about as a result of Ajinkya Rahane winning the toss and choosing to field first on a track that offered the bowlers some help.
It took Knight Riders just 10.1 overs to win. Along the way, Rinku Singh (15*) and Rahane (20*) led them home, although they lost the wickets of Quinton de Kock (23) and Sunil Narine (44). For the first time in a season, CSK dropped five straight games.
“I believe that a good number of evenings haven’t gone our way. The main thing is to look within. I believe there was a challenge. However, it’s crucial to embrace that challenge, devise strategies for handling the challenging deliveries, and then aim to score runs. After the defeat, Dhoni told the announcer, “I felt we didn’t really have enough runs on the board today.” Dhoni was leading CSK for the first time since the IPL 2023 final.
The 43-year-old added that starting in the first inning, the balls started halting on the batters. But he claimed that CSK’s case was hampered by losing wickets in succession, particularly with KKR’s elite spinners in the squad. Dhoni believes his squad will get back on track with more collaborations and improved application.
“Yes, it [did] cease, but this has always been the situation here. Even in the second innings, it slowed down a little whenever we bowled first. However, it was ceasing in the first inning today as well. Additionally, it appears extremely different if you lose a lot of wickets because it puts pressure on the batter entering, and it gets a little harder with good spinners. Additionally, we never truly established any collaborations. That makes it difficult as well. Overall, I think we’ll be on pace if we have a few more partnerships, runs, and applications,” Dhoni stated.
Our openers, MS Dhoni, must support themselves.
CSK lost two wickets and scored just 31 runs in their opening six overs. Rachin Ravindra and Devon Conway, the openers, are both competent, according to Dhoni; they simply need to support themselves to score runs in their own way without worrying about the score on the board. According to the CSK captain, the team’s strength is in holding onto wickets up front and moving quickly through the middle overs to create a platform for a late-inning assault.
“What matters is that our openers are good openers; all they have to do is support themselves and make genuine cricket strokes. They are not going to start working hard or try to cross the line. However, it’s equally crucial to avoid being desperate when you see the scoreboard.
Perhaps one or two boundaries are necessary, and your run rate continues. It will be really challenging for us if you start asking for 60 runs in six overs with our lineup. Establishing partnerships is crucial; consider looking to capitalise in the middle and later overs. That’s going to be our strength. However, the middle order will perform differently and the grind will be prolonged for a considerable amount of time if we lose too many wickets,” Dhoni said.
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