While MS Dhoni-led Chennai Super Kings faced a bizarre start in the 2020 edition of Indian Premier League, former West Indies batting great Brian Lara said that the Chennai think tank needs to bring some changes in their approach while playing their upcoming games.
While chasing a moderate total of 168 against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), CSK were going strong and they were at 90 for 1 after 10 overs, and in-form Shane Watson and Ambati Rayudu were in the middle.
However, with Rayudu’s dismissal, others failed to steady the ship, including the captain MS Dhoni. Dhoni – who earlier faced a lot of criticism for not batting up in the order, came to bat at No. 4 when they needed 68 from 47 balls. For him, it was an easy task as he has done this before as well but the CSK captain could only manage 11 off 12 balls before Varun Chakravarthy removed him.
CSK scored only 20 runs between the 11th and the 15th over where Shane Watson too got out for 50. Kedar Jadhav came to bat before Dwayne Bravo and Ravindra Jadeja and took 12 balls to score 7 runs. On the other hand, Ravindra Jadeja’s late cameo went in vain as CSK needed 26 runs in the final over but lost the game by 10 runs and Bravo – who is considered as one of the best finishers of the game could only see his team losing the game from the outside as he didn’t get the chance to bat as well.
However, Lara said, "It’s a bit puzzling (Dhoni inability to finish). You feel that he has created that position where he can be flexible with himself but I think he needs to maybe look at some other players."
"Things are not going right for him and I believe, some of the other players, look at Jadeja how he batted today, he came in when their chances were very slim. So, something he will have to work on, have steadier stuff,” he concluded.
Cover Credits: CricketAddictor.com
