Former Indian wicketkeeper-batsman Parthiv Patel on Monday (May 10) heaped praise on Chennai Super Kings (CSK) captain MS Dhoni for the way he managed his team and staged a strong comeback in the recently-suspended 14th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL 2021).
The three-time champions Chennai Super Kings (CSK) had a poor season last year in the UAE, failing to qualify for the playoffs for the first time in history. But this year, they were on fire in the IPL 2021 before it was postponed following the Coronavirus outbreak inside bio-bubble.
Before the IPL 2021 was suspended last week due to the COVID-19 crisis in India, the CSK were placed second with 10 points and a net run rate +1.263 – the highest among all teams on the points table, and Patel credited “strong” skipper Dhoni for handling the team in a “remarkable” manner this season.
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Speaking to the Star Sports network, Patel said: “I had no doubts about it. CSK was in my top four even before the tournament started. But I thought the way MS Dhoni handled the team, it was remarkable. When you have to make a comeback, you need a strong captain.”
He was also impressed the way Dhoni managed his batting line-up by keeping the form of his players in mind. The CSK skipper promoted England all-rounder Moeen Ali to the No.3, as Suresh Raina and Ambati Rayudu hadn’t played any competitive cricket before the IPL 14 and it proved fruitful for the CSK.
England's all-rounder amassed 206 runs at an average of 34.33 and a strike rate of 157.25.
Parthiv concluded, “Everyone thought Raina will bat at No.3 but it was Moeen. He knew what changes he needed to do. Everyone was thinking that MS Dhoni will come and bat at No.4 or No.5. He took a backseat, he knew that there are guys who are batting well and they should get more number of overs.”
