Chennai Super Kings (CSK) skipper MS Dhoni on Tuesday (September 22) mentioned that lengthy hiatus was one of the main reasons why he batted lower down the order in the daunting run chase against Rajasthan Royals (RR) in Sharjah.

Chasing 217 to win, Dhoni came to bat at No. 7 and remained unbeaten on 29 off 17 balls with three sixes.

WATCH - A lucky man gets the ball after MS Dhoni hits it out of the stadium

"I haven't batted for a long time. The 14-day quarantine [after landing in UAE] doesn't help," Dhoni said at the post-match presentation ceremony. "Also we wanted to try different things, give opportunities to Sam (Curran). Have the opportunity to try different things. If it doesn't work, you can always go back to your strengths."

Apart from Faf du Plessis (72 off 37 balls), CSK’s top-order failed to live up to the expectations and the three-time champions eventually finished with 200/6 in 20 overs.

Ruing the poor batting display at the top of the order, Dhoni said: "217 on the board, you have to have a very good start. That was not the case. They (Royals) batted really well. Steve (Smith) and Sanju (Samson). You have to give credit to their bowlers too. There was a lot of dew. They knew what lengths to bowl.”

"Their spinners didn't try too many things. That was an error our spinners did in their first couple of overs. Without singling out anyone, a controllable we could have controlled is no-balls. Had we not bowled no-balls, we would have been chasing 200, and it would have been a very good game."

Dhoni also had special praise reserved for du Plessis, who was the lone warrior with the bat for Super Kings.

"Faf batted really well. The key is to adapt. When the spinners are bowling really short, what is important is to still hit over mid-on and not go to the square leg because the ball stays low here. I think Faf did that really well," he said.

CSK will face Delhi Capitals (DC) in their next game on September 25 at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium.