What makes MS Dhoni one of the finest finishers in the world? Over the years, the former India captain has pulled off innumerable heroic chases in the Gentlemen’s Game. With his India days behind him, Dhoni has continued to show that his cricketing days aren’t behind him just yet. Dhoni Chennai Super Kings (CSK) failed to chase the target of 176 runs against Rajasthan Royals (RR) in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 match on Wednesday, there was enough on display for fans to see how good a finisher Dhoni still is.
The ‘Thala’, at the age of 41, came out to bat at the No. 8 spot after Ambati Rayudu was dismissed for just one run of 2 balls. With CSK’s score reading 103/5 in 14.1 overs at that moment, Dhoni had a clear task in front of him, to accelerate the scoring rate and take the team home without giving away his wicket.
Despite struggling with a knee injury, Dhoni unleashed fireworks at Chepauk, hitting 3 sixes and 1 four while Jadeja also gave good company with his 15-ball 25. But, the task at the end just became too steep, even for Dhoni to scale.
Dhoni did manage to hit two maximums in the final over but needing 5 runs from the final ball, he was undone by Sandeep Sharma‘s yorker.
When asked about the ‘mindset’ with which he approaches such tricky situations in death overs, Dhoni spoke his mind.
“You see the field, see the bowler and what the bowler is trying to do, after that just stand still and wait for them to commit the mistake, if they bowl in good areas then good luck to them. I would wait for it and that is something which has worked for me, you need to back your strength and my strength is to hit straight,” said the CSK skipper.
The word ‘finishing’ has been synonymous with MS Dhoni for a while. While there remian who wonder if this season would be Dhoni’s last in the IPL as a player, with performances like the one against the Royals, there’s no doubting that the ‘Thala’ still knows how to make the opponent teams and fans skip a heartbeat with his batting at the death.
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