He might be at the twilight of his career, but Chennai Super Kings (CSK) skipper MS Dhoni has impressed one and all with his exploits in the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) season.
Dhoni has scored 96 runs from eight innings at a remarkable strike rate of 204.25. He has faced only 47 balls while batting in the lower order, hitting 10 sixes and 3 fours.
During CSK’s clash against Delhi Capitals (DC) at Chepauk on Wednesday (May 10), Dhoni slammed 20 off 9 balls with 1 four and 2 sixes.
After the game, the CSK captain said he has come to terms with the fact that he would only get a limited number of deliveries to bat in IPL 2023 and he has been training accordingly to execute the finisher's role to perfection.
“This is what my job is, I have told them this is what I am supposed to do, don't make me run a lot and it has been working. This is what I need to do, happy to contribute," Dhoni said at the post-match presentation ceremony.
Notably, Dhoni has been carrying a knee injury that he sustained during the training camp in the lead-up to IPL 2023. In many of the CSK games, he has shown signs of discomfort while running between the wickets.
Coming to the CSK-DC encounter, the MS Dhoni-led side defeated the David Warner-led team by 27 runs to boost their playoff chances.
Opting to bat first, the hosts posted 167/8 on the board and then restricted DC to 140/8. While Dhoni was pleased with the performance of his bowlers, he felt there is room for improvement in the batting department.
“It turned a lot in the second half. We know that our spinners use a lot more seam than some of the other bowlers. We thought it'll slow down. We didn't know what's a good score. That's why I wanted the bowlers to bowl their best deliveries but not look for wickets every delivery. That's when you start not bowling well. I felt 166-170 was a good score. But as a batting unit, we can do better. The good thing is Moeen and Jaddu got a chance to bat. As we get closer to the last phase of the tournament, it's important that everybody has a few deliveries under their belt. We need to be happy with our batting,” he stated.
Furthermore, Dhoni heaped praise on Ruturaj Gaikwad, saying it's hard to find batters like the young opener, who has been a consistent performer for the side in the last few seasons.
In 11 innings this season, Gaikwad has amassed 408 runs at an average of 40.80 and a strike rate of 147.29. He has formed a formidable opening pair alongside Devon Conway for CSK in IPL 2023.
“He (Gaikwad) is batting really well, he's somebody once he starts scoring, he's very effortless. He's somebody who's happy to rotate. He has the game awareness. He is ready to adapt. You rarely get people like that. People who read the game, those are the kind of players you need in your team,” Dhoni concluded.
