Former Chennai Super Kings (CSK) skipper MS Dhoni treated the fans with his blistering cameo against Mumbai Indians (MI) at the Wankhede Stadium on Sunday (April 14).
Dhoni, who came out to bat at No. 6 in the final over of CSK’s innings, smashed three consecutive sixes off MI skipper Hardik Pandya.
The veteran wicketkeeper returned with 20* off 4 balls, propelling the defending champions to a massive 206/4 in 20 overs.
After the game, CSK’s bowling consultant Eric Simmons heaped praise on MS Dhoni, saying that the latter is the "batting template" for their team’s death bowling.
Simmons highlighted that the strategies worked against him in training sessions tend to succeed in match situations as well.
"They're looking at restricting us to under 200 and then they're suddenly facing 206 with an over like that. Every time — we live close to him — he continues to amaze us. To go out there and hit the first ball like that for six and then continue the way he does.
"But he has been batting exceptionally well in the nets...just another unbelievable MS Dhoni moment," the South African said in the post-match presser.
"His calmness at the wicket… we use him as a batting template when we're bowling at the death, the pre-season because he's so good at it. If we can test out our theories against him, then we know we're going to do well," he added.
Simmons revealed that Dhoni is struggling with knee pain in the ongoing IPL but he has battled it bravely so far.
"Everyone else is more interested in his injuries than he is. He's one of the hardest men I've ever come across. I don't even think we know to what extent he may or may not be in pain. He just carries on and does his thing," the bowling consultant said.
"I'm sure there's some niggles. He just has that ability to ignore what it is and do what needs to be done. We're more concerned about his injuries. When I say we, I mean the public (which) is more concerned about his injuries than he is," Simmons added.
Chasing the target, MI finished on 186/6 even though Rohit Sharma got his second IPL ton in 61 balls. Matheesha Pathirana was the pick of the bowlers for CSK, claiming four wickets by conceding only 28 runs in his four overs.
Simmons said while Pathirana deserved all the praises coming his way after CSK’s win, Tushar Deshpande and Shardul Thakur were the "unsung heroes".
"Shardul bowled one of the best overs I've ever seen. We talk about execution, you go and look at his impact points in that over that he went for two runs. It was outstanding," he said.
"Matheesha will get a lot of the accolades and he deserves it because of the way he bowled and the breakthroughs he did. But those two gentlemen did exceptionally well for us through that middle phase to push the rate out of the reach of the Mumbai Indians," Simmons said.
On a separate note, Eric Simmons called for the wide rule to be defined further as he feels that the current laws are not specific enough.
"If they give us the wide rules, proper understanding, we can then tactically structure overs. It's not a criticism of the umpires, but because it's an interpretation, it makes it difficult. If we knew black and white what it was and how it worked, we can then use the wide rules cleverly," Simmons said.
"Like for example, if a batsman is staying out of the leg stump, it doesn't matter where he goes, if we've got a heel to target and he wants to move into the stump, that's his problem. He's moved the wide line. We can use the wide rule very cleverly and make it a little more even contest," he added.
(With PTI Inputs)
