IPL 2021 Phase 2 – Deepak Chahar on Dhoni: Chennai Super Kings’ (CSK) MS Dhoni although ticked all the right boxes as the captain, as a batsman, endured a poor form in the first half of the IPL 2021. But his teammate Deepak Chahar has backed his captain to find his form with the willow when the tournament resumes in September.
“Even in the 2018 and 2019 IPL seasons, Dhoni bhai started a bit slowly by his standards, but his stroke play became fluent as the season progressed. So, you might get to see the best of MS Dhoni in the second half of the season,” Deepak Chahar told Sportskeeda in an interview.
IPL 2021 Phase 2: Deepak Chahar’s big prediction, ‘Dhoni’s best for CSK will be seen in Phase 2 of IPL’
IPL 2021: MS Dhoni managed only 37 runs in four innings in IPL 2021 before it was suspended with his highest score being 18 against Rajasthan Royals that came off 17 balls. With Chennai Super Kings batting mostly first, it did help the matters as the top-order performed exceedingly well to not see Dhoni come out and bat. But when he did, he struggled. It was a repetition of what he went through in IPL 2020.
While many pointed out that he has slowed down with his age. But the primary reason of his struggle is the lack of competitive matches. In IPL 2020, he came to the tournament after over a year without playing competitive cricket. His absence in the domestic circuit coupled with lockdown restrictions played a major role. In IPL 2021 too, he did not have the preparations, playing the tournament after IPL 2020 with a gap of six months. Deepak Chahar also reiterated the point of lacking matches.
“A batsman cannot bat the same way for 15-20 years. If any batsman hasn’t played regular cricket before, it is never easy to just come to a competition of the level of IPL and start performing, it takes time. He has always played the finisher’s rule, which is even tougher when you haven’t played regular cricket,” Deepak Chahar said.