Chennai Super Kings captain MS Dhoni explains why he chose to bat at no.7 in the match that they had lost against the Rajasthan Royals.
For the first time since 2010, the Rajasthan Royals had managed to win against the defending champions Chennai Super Kings. With the 16-run defeat suffered by CSK, people had started to wonder why team captain MS Dhoni has decided to bat at No.7 and not on the top order.
The game finished off with a score of 200 for CSK and 216 for RR. With that, the likes of Sam Curran, Ruturaj Gaikwad, and Kedar Jadhav were seen first before Dhoni entered the field. The reason behind him falling down the batting order would have been the fact that he has not batted in a long time.
In an interview after the game, Dhoni says, ‘I haven't batted for a long time; 14-day quarantine doesn't help. Also wanted to try different things, give opportunities to Sam. Have the opportunity to try different things. If it doesn't work, you can always go back to your strengths. Faf adapted very well. Something the batsmen will do, neglect square leg and go more towards long-on and long-off’.
The idea of sending out the trio is also well-supported by CSK coach Stephen Fleming who says, ‘MS is a specialist towards the end of the innings, always has been. Curran was there trying to hit and keep us in the game at that point when we were falling behind. He's got good hitting power like we saw. (Rituraj) It was his first game and we wanted to get him into the game into the order. We wanted to be aggressive, we've got a long batting order and we're just trying to use our resources smartly’.
‘We have this question every year. He was in the 12th (It was actually the 14th) over, which is pretty much optimal time, and sort of batted accordingly. He is coming back from not playing a huge amount of cricket, so the expectations - to see him at his best - is gonna take some time. But you see him towards the end, he was very good. Faf du Plessis carried the form, so we weren't too far away. It wasn't the batting that was the worry to be honest’, he added.
The next game of the Chennai Super Kings will be played against the Delhi Capitals on the 25th. So far, the odds of the game are -142.86 for CSK and +108 for DC. To know more about the latest cricket odds, visit Betwala.
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