IPL 2023: Former Australian cricketer Shaun Tait admitted that he was hoping someone gets out and Dhoni comes in with Chennai needing sixes to stay in the contest.
Jaipur: It was surprising to see Chennai Super Kings not come out to bat with the side needing the big hits in the back end against Rajasthan Royals at the Sawai Mansingh stadium in Jaipur on Thursday. Following the 32-run loss against Rajasthan, Dhoni’s tactics were questioned by experts. Former Australian cricketer Shaun Tait admitted that he was hoping someone gets out and Dhoni comes in with Chennai needing sixes to stay in the contest.
“Watching MS (Dhoni) sit on the boundaries when they need sixes… I was like, ‘can someone get out?’” Tait said following the game on ESPNCricinfo.
Reckoning that Dhoni’s presence instills fear in the opposition, ex-India cricketer Deep Dasgupta was also disappointed at the CSK skipper not coming out to bat.
“There’s this fear factor when MS is batting. No matter whether he’s (on) 40 or 50, no matter how good a bowler you are, you’d still be thinking, ‘it’s MS who’s batting there’,” the former Indian cricketer said.
“They scored quite a bit above par. We gave away too many in the first six. At the same time, wicket was great to bat on,” Dhoni said after the 32-run loss.
“Bowlers bowled well in the middle overs but a lot of edges went for boundaries, at least 5-6 went for them and that had made an impact. They had par-plus and we couldn’t get a good start in the power play with the bat.” “We had to assess what a good length is, as captain you tell them but initially we have away a few boundaries and after that you’re always playing catch up.” Dhoni praised Jaiswal and Dhruv Jurel, who made 15-ball 34 towards the end, for their efforts.