MS Dhoni said he was surprised to be declared Player-of-the-Match after Chennai Super Kings’ five-wicket victory over Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) at the Ekana Criceket Stadium on Monday (April 14).
The veteran wicketkeeper played an entertaining cameo of 26 in just 11 balls, helping CSK chased down the target of 167 with three deliveries to spare.
The last time Dhoni bagged the Player-of-the-Match was in the IPL 2019 season when he scored 75 runs against Rajasthan Royals.
This was his 18th such award in the cash-rich league, but Dhoni was left wondering why he got the recognition after the win. The stand-in CSK skipper felt that Noor Ahmad, who conceded only 13 runs in his four overs and the new ball bowlers, did well on the day.
"Even I was wondering why are you guys giving me the Player of the Match award. I think Noor bowled really well today. I feel the new ball bowlers bowled really well as well," said Dhoni at the post-match presentation ceremony.
This was CSK’s first win after five consecutive defeats in the tournament. They five-time champions now have two centuries under their belt from seven outings.
Dhoni said it was a good game to win and will give them a lot of a confidence going forward. "It's good to win a game. When you play a tournament like this, it's good to win. Unfortunately, things have not gone our way. There can be lot of things but this win will give us a lot of confidence. It was a tough game but glad to get over the line on the winning side," he added.
The captain acknowledged that his side was struggling in the powerplay with bat and ball in the previous games, while also adding that it was important for the batting order to express themselves as a unit.
"I think in the powerplay we were slightly struggling to get going in our bowling. We did well in the middle overs and ended the innings on a strong note in the death. There have been instances where the opposition got off to a good start but we came back strong and were able to restrict them to a total around the par score. We were not getting the kind of start which we wanted as a batting unit and the fall of wickets were concerning. One of the reasons could be the Chennai wickets which is slightly on the slower side. The batting unit have done well away from home. It's very important to express as a batting group," he remarked
Dhoni also said the bowling attack in the LSG game was a much better one. The CSK captain felt that a lot of pressure was put on Ashwin in the powerplay and they wanted people to stand up in the first six.
"Well, so far yes the bowling unit is doing better than the batting unit. We have made some changes. We need bowlers who do well in the powerplay. We were putting a lot of pressure on Ash as he was bowling 2 overs in the powerplay. We made a few changes where we wanted more bowlers who could bowl in the powerplay. I think this attack is a much better one. As a bowling unit we have done well but as a batting unit, I think we could've done better," he concluded.
Chennai Super Kings will next face Mumbai Indians at the Wankhede Stadium on April 20
