Sam Curran as an opener made a difference for Chennai against SRH.
Former Indian spinner Pragyan Ojha was elated to see old Chennai Super Kings (CSK) back in colors in the 29th match of the ongoing IPL 2020 against Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in Dubai on 13th October.
On Tuesday, the luck was on the CSK side right from the toss, as the franchise had the opportunity to bat first on a sluggish wicket with Sam Curran opening the batting and scoring a quickfire 31 and then the likes of Shane Watson and Ambati Rayudu showing the class to take the side to 167 against SRH.
Defending the total, CSK also made a great start, dismissing opposition skipper David Warner early by Curran, and then Dwayne Bravo ran Manish Pandey out to turn the match in favor of the CSK, as the all-round bowling effort saw the three-time champions to restrict SRH to 147 for 8 in Dubai.
Ojha told Sports Today: “Today, I saw that old Chennai team. They were happy, they were enjoying the game. We have seen them celebrating, but they were disappointed. They were not looking as if they were satisfied. Today, they were happy, the old Chennai is what we saw on the ground.”
His prediction proved true on Tuesday, as Curran was sent to open innings against SRH and he also played a quick-fire knock of 31 off 21 balls that really made a difference in the IPL 13 clash on Tuesday.
Speaking on the same, former cricketer added, “Yes, I felt it made a difference. When I was analyzing, That's the only difference that could have made to the team and it really did. Sam Curran got those quick 30 runs and then everything was set. They were missing that.”
He also wants to believes that the revival for CSK has begun with the victory over SRH while picking Chennai, MI, RCB as favorites in the ongoing IPL 2020.
Ojha further explained, “I wish it has just begun. CSK, MI, and RCB are favorites. If they get out of the IPL, it's like India, Australia, and England going out of the World Cup before the quarter-finals or semi-finals. It's like that. We want these 3 teams to be there.”
Meanwhile, Dhoni asked Karn Sharma to bowl in the 18th over when SRH needed 46 runs and the leg-spinner paid off the trust shown by his skipper by dismissing well-set Kane Williamson but he conceded 19 runs while bowling outside to the fields set by the CSK leader.
Dhoni was more expressive on the field against SRH as he rushed to Karn quickly and have a word with him after the over was completed, but Ojha said he never becomes animated.
He signed off by saying, “If he is disappointed, he will tell you on the ground. I saw Karn Sharma giving a boundary to Nadeem and straightaway, in between overs, he called Karn and told him 'boss I have given you this field and why did you bowl there and give Nadeem a boundary over covers?'. That's how he tells you, he never gets too angry or he never becomes animated.”