CHENNAI, MAY 02,
Mahendra Singh Dhoni is lightning quick behind the stumps and the veteran wicket-keeper batsman said it is a skill which he has developed from tennis ball cricket.
Talking about his super quick stumpings, Dhoni said, “I think it’s something that’s come from tennis ball cricket. But you still have to do the basics and graduate to that level. If you want to keep like that you can make mistakes; so I still think basics are most important.”
Skipper Dhoni has been in super form in the ongoing IPL and after sitting out for a couple of matches due to fever and a stiff back, he smashed an unbeaten 44 off 22 balls to power Chennai Super Kings to 179 against Delhi Capitals on Wednesday night. CSK were struggling in the beginning but thanks to Dhoni, CSK scored 20 runs from the last over bowled by Trent Boult with the stumper finishing off with two sixes off the final two balls.
Asked about his power-packed knock, Dhoni said he had spent enough time on the wicket to understand the bowling variations and unleash his game towards the end to lead Chennai Super Kings to a match-winning total. “Watch the ball, hit the ball. You’ve spent time, you know the variations. By the 20th over you’re almost ready and you swing at everything,” Dhoni said when asked about his last-over exploits. “It’s easier for somebody who has played 10-15 deliveries than someone who has just come in.” Dhoni said the conditions actually favoured them though they lost the toss. “We knew there wouldn’t be much dew. What we’ve seen is if there’s no dew, there’s assistance for spinners. But when we started, Bhajju pa (Harbhajan Singh) didn’t get any turn. But as they started losing wickets, it started spinning, it started turning. Cricket is such a game,” he said after the 80-run win over Delhi Capitals. Left-arm spinner Ravindra Jadeja, who took three wickets, said the wicket helped spinners.
“Obviously I enjoyed bowling, the way the wicket was turning. I was bowling in good areas and the wicket was doing the rest for me,” he said.
Asked how it helps having someone like Imran Tahir bowling in tandem with him, Jadeja said the South African has been “fantastic”
“He has been taking wickets whenever we needed. Me, Immy bhai and Bhajju pa (Harbhajan) as a unit, we are bowling the way we want to bowl. Still one more game to go. We need to continue our momentum. Everyone is in good form so we just need to keep the winning momentum going.”
Jadeja said Dhoni can be described by one word and that is ‘genius’.
Losing skipper Shreyas Iyer said the defeat was a “reality check” for Delhi.
“It’s really going to affect us. The way we played was not expected.
Everybody will be on their toes in the next game. Wouldn’t blame the abilities of our team but we didn’t play smart cricket. We should have curtailed them,” he said.
Iyer said they missed someone like Kagiso Rabada in death overs after the South African pacer was ruled out of the game due to a back issue.
“He’s (Rabada) an amazing bowler especially in the slog overs. For sure we missed him. But he had a stiff back, it’s good he got to take rest. We’re keeping the hope and definitely want to finish in the top two.”
Dhoni’s presence makes a huge difference, says Raina
The sheer presence of MS Dhoni on the pitch creates a lot of pressure for opposition teams and it is always difficult to fill the veteran stumper’s boots whenever he is not around, said Chennai Super Kings’ batsman Suresh Raina.
Dhoni missed two games for CSK this season — against Mumbai Indians and Sunrisers Hyderabad — due to fever and stiff back, and on both occasion they ended on the losing side.
Besides, Dhoni has been in superb form with the bat this year and hit a 22-ball unbeaten 44 against Delhi Capitals to ensure a comfortable 80-run win for CSK.
Asked Raina how challenging it was to lead CSK in Dhoni’s absence, he replied: “I think losing him (Dhoni) as a captain is not an issue, losing him as a batsman is always difficult for us. That’s what happened for us against Hyderabad and Mumbai Indians.
“When he comes to the crease a lot of pressure is created for other teams. When he is not in the team, we see the difference.”
Raina also hinted that he might take up CSK captaincy as and when Dhoni decides to call it quits.
“He has done well in the last couple of years as a batsmen as well team mentor. So probably you may see me more next year when he is done but I need more of his calibre. But he will continue as long as he wants to play for Chennai, you know him and Chennai,” he said.
The left-hander also praised Dhoni’s glovework in the light of two brilliant stumpings he had effected on Wednesday night.
“He (Dhoni) had two brilliant stumpings. One is Shreyas (Iyer) and the other is (Chris) Morris. It shows how compact he is.
“In the last couple of years when he was playing for India also, he has done amazing stumpings that shows how involved he is in the game,” Raina said.
Raina said it was important to play smart cricket in Chennai.
“It is important to play very, very smart cricket in Chennai. The game starts after the sixth over here. In the powerplay, if you see the last two games which we won against Hyderabad and against Delhi here, you can see that we hadn’t done well in the first three overs,” he said.
“Watto (Shane Watson) and Faf (du Plessis) played very carefully against (Trent) Boult and (Chris) Morris. It is important to have wickets in Chennai because later when you have hitters like MS (Dhoni), (Ambati) Rayudu and Jadeja, you can score extra 30-40 runs.”
Raina, who became the first fielder to take 100 catches in the IPL on Wednesday night, felt it was a blessing for the team to lose the toss as the wicket was a bit difficult in the second innings when Delhi batted.
“I think it was a blessing for us to lose the toss. The wicket was a bit difficult when they (Delhi) were batting second. The game really set up for us. We kept wickets in hands. In Chennai we need to put extra 30-40 runs on the board. that’s what we did.”
Raina said Delhi couldn’t capitalise on a good start, adding one needs to plan well against CSK’s lethal spin attack.
“They (Delhi) were very good in the powerplay, but later on they didn’t capitalise on their good start. In Chennai, you need to plan really well against our good spinners. You need to rotate really well, otherwise it is going to be difficult with the heat,” he said.
