MS Dhoni-led Chennai Super Kings (CSK) suffered a 5-wicket loss to Hardik Pandya’s Gujarat Titans (GT) in the opening encounter of the IPL 2023 in Ahmedabad and former India cricketer Virender Sehwag reacted to the same.
It was their fourth successive loss in IPL, three of which came during their forgettable run in 2022. Ruturaj Gaikwad’s 92 in 50 balls went in vain as CSK bowlers, apart from debutant Rajvardhan Hangargekar, who picked three wickets, went for much runs.
Tushar Deshpande, who was brought in as the first-ever impact player substitute in the IPL 2023, replacing Ambati Rayudu, went for 51 runs in his 3.2 overs.
Speaking about the same on Cricbuzz, Virender Sehwag was critical of MS Dhoni’s captaincy and was surprised the way the generally astute leader made mistakes.
"Had Dhoni used an over from Moeen Ali somewhere in the middle, he may not have needed to go to Tushar Deshpande, who was highly expensive. You don't expect MS Dhoni making such mistakes often, but that's where you could use the risk-and-reward approach of using an off-spinner when right-handers are batting," Sehwag said on Cricbuzz.
Veteran India batter Manoj Tiwary said that he was taken aback by Dhoni giving the new ball to Deshpande, pointing out that the fast bowler is usually used in the later phases of the game.
"I was surprised when they gave the impact substitute Tushar Deshpande the new ball. In domestic cricket, he often bowls in the latter phases of the game. I thought maybe they could have given Rajvardhan Hangargekar the new ball," he said.
CSK will now face LSG in their homecoming match in Chennai on April 3.
