With the return of MS Dhoni in the playing XI, Chennai Super Kings are back to winning ways. CSK buried the ghost of their embarrassing 46-run defeat against Mumbai Indians on April 26 by registering a thumping 80-run win over Delhi Capitals on Wednesday (May 1).
Coming into bat in the 14th over, Dhoni played a blistering innings of 22-ball 44* (4 fours and 3 sixes) that helped CSK to pile up a challenging total of 179/4 on the board. While defending the total, Dhoni utilized his resources to perfection. He brought the spinners on time to demolish the Capitals batting line-up. While Imran Tahir claimed 4/12 in 3.2 overs, Ravindra Jadeja picked up 3/9 in 3 overs as CSK bundled out DC for a paltry 99 in 16.2 overs.
Addressing the press conference after the match, CSK vice-captain Suresh Raina highlighted the significance of Dhoni, saying: "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 over as CSK captain 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.
Apart from his batting, Dhoni also impressed with his sharp glovework. Delhi Capitals skipper Shreyas Iyer and all-rounder Chris Morris were the victims of his lightning fast stumping.
Hailing Dhoni’s wicketkeeping, Raina remarked: "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 also played a key role in helping CSK to post a challenging total. After the departure of Shane Watson on duck, the pair of Raina (59 off 37 balls) and Faf Du Plessis (39 off 41 balls) bailed the home team out of trouble with an 83-run stand.
"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 asserted.
"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 concluded.
