‘Don’t think Dhoni gets enough credit…': CSK coach Fleming lauds his captain's ‘unnoticed’ skills after win vs SRH
Dhoni contributed in all facets of the game that a keeper can on Friday. He took a sharp catch, inflicted a stumping and capped it off with a run-out.
As MS Dhoni said at the post-match presentation that he is not "complaining" for not getting to bat as long as the top-order does its job and gets the victories for Chennai Super Kings in IPL 2023. That, however, doesn't mean that Dhoni is having any less impact in the match. If not with the bat, he is doing it with the gloves in hand from behind the wicket. And not to forget his smarts as the captain. Dhoni, who had a mixed day as a keeper in CSK's last match against RCB, had a field day against the Sunrisers Hyderabad in front of his home crowd at the Chepauk.
Dhoni contributed in all facets of the game that a keeper can on Friday. He took a sharp catch, inflicted a stumping and capped it off with a run-out. So good was keeping against SRH that CSK head coach Stephen Fleming went on to terms it as a "masterclass". The former New Zealand skipper also added that Dhoni "doesn't get enough" credit for his keeping.
Watch: Dhoni creates classroom with SRH players, video gets reaction from Bishop
“It’s a natural talent. I don’t think he gets enough credit for his keeping but to be honest, he is an absolute craftsman, an absolute masterclass behind the stumps and often goes unnoticed with all the things he does,” Fleming said during the post-match conference after CSK registered a comfortable 7-wicket victory against the Orange Army.
In the 13th over of the SRH innings, Dhoni took a sharp catch to send back SRH captain Aiden Markram off the bowling of Maheesh Theekshana. The catch also helped Dhoni go past Quinton de Kock and become the keeper with the most catches in T20 cricket (208).
The man himself was pretty impressed with his catch. "I felt it was a fantastic catch. I was in such a wrong position. Just because we wear gloves, people think it's easy. A long time back I still remember one game - Rahul Dravid was keeping and he caught one like that. With your skill set, you can't take a catch like that. You have to be in a very wrong position to be able to take that kind of a catch," Dhoni said.
Dhoni wasn't done yet. An over later he stumped Mayank Agarwal who had ventured out of the crease against Ravindra Jadeja. The legendary cricketer, however, saved his best for the last when he ran Washington Sundar off the last ball of the SRH innings when he wanted to steal a bye after Marco Jansen failed to make contact with the ball.