NEWS
Follow UsMS Dhoni played yet another brilliant cameo, this time against Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) at the Ekana Stadium, as Chennai Super Kings (CSK) posted a competitive 176/6. While Ravindra Jadeja scored an unbeaten fifty, it was Dhoni who stole the limelight in the end, with an unbeaten nine-ball 28. However, CSK succumbed to an eight-wicket defeat.
Dhoni also scored 20* off just four deliveries against Mumbai Indians (MI) in the previous match, which proved to be pivotal. CSK head coach Stephen Fleming is not surprised with the way Dhoni is going, given how well he trained in the pre-season, and is delighted that Dhoni is owning those 2-3 over cameos.
"His batting this year, even in training, has been very crisp. The team isn't surprised with what he is doing because his skill level during the pre-season was very high," Fleming said at the post-match press conference.
"Other years he has obviously had problems with his knee and he is sort of recovering from that which is why there is only a certain amount of balls he can function well.
"I think everyone wants to see him for longer as we do but that amount of time is about right. We need him for the tournament and that 2-3 over cameo he is owning that space. It's up to the rest of the batting unit to get us to a good position where he can push us over the top. He is doing that pretty much every time at the moment, which is great to watch."
Fleming also added he is not surprised with the love and attention Dhoni has been getting all around the country during the Indian Premier League (IPL), given what he has done for CSK and India.
"What an amazing atmosphere when he comes out and does play and entertain, it's exhilarating," he said.
"We are incredibly proud of what he has achieved. We marvel at the amount of love that he gets. It's no surprise with what he has done with Indian cricket and with CSK with us. We are incredibly proud that he is a part of our side and is pretty much the heartbeat of the side. We thoroughly enjoy it. We know we are beneficiaries of the career that he has had and is having. We enjoy every minute of it."
Fleming also credited LSG openers KL Rahul (82) and Quinton de Kock (54) for putting 134 for the first wicket and effectively batting CSK out of the match.
"It was a tough game. We certainly struggled to get any momentum throughout the game. To win that match, we would have had to do something similar to what they did which is to take wickets throughout but the opening stand was a match-winning one," Fleming explained.
"And we couldn't create the pressure because they are used to the pace of the pitch and if we got wickets throughout we could have put pressure on their order here.
"Sometimes the spinners are taken out of play when a partnership is developing and going well. With a left-hander and right-hander, the feeling was that with the players that were in, spin was going to be easy to hit, we saw that with the last couple of overs with Moeen Ali. The idea was to get more spin but they just nullified that so we had to keep changing to try and find a way to get a wicket."
With plenty of high-scoring matches on offer in the tournament, Fleming feels that the pitches could slow down in the second half. "We are only getting to halfway through the tournament, what I would expect to see is with the hot conditions and the wickets being used, the scoring should slow a little bit," the 51-year-old head coach said.
"Today was a good contest between bat and ball, it was a good even contest. I think people enjoy seeing a lot of fours and sixes, but there is also that warning that is becoming a bit one-sided. I agree with that, and that's why I enjoy a tussle like that where there is a little bit in it for both."
Despite this loss, CSK are still third in the table with eight points from seven matches. They take on LSG again in their next game, in Chennai, on April 23 (Tuesday).
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