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IPL 2020: ‘He’s coming back from not playing a lot of cricket’ - Coach Stephen Fleming defends MS Dhoni after CSK loss
IPL 2020: MS Dhoni walked out to bat at No. 7, which had the cricket world talking, but Fleming called it a sensible move considering Dhoni is coming into the IPL without much cricket behind him.
Stephen Fleming, coach of the Chennai Super Kings, feels it will take some time before captain MS Dhoni is able to bat freely and bring out the finisher in him. On Tuesday, chasing a stiff target of 217 runs, Dhoni walked out to bat at No. 7, which had the cricket world talking, but Fleming called it a sensible move considering Dhoni is coming into the IPL without much cricket behind him.
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“We have this question every year. He was in during the 14th over, which is pretty much optimal time, and sort of batted accordingly. He is coming back from not playing a huge amount of cricket,” Fleming said at the post-match press conference of Match 4 of the IPL.
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“So, the expectations to see him at his best is gonna take some time. But you see him towards the end, he was very good. Faf du Plessis carried the form, so we weren’t too far away. It wasn’t the batting that was the worry to be honest.”
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With Dhoni still around, the equation boiled down to 38 required off the final over, and although the match was beyond CSK’s reach, Dhoni opened his arms by smashing Tom Curran for a hat-trick of sixes in the final of the match to remain not out on 27 off 19 balls. As far as sending Sam Curran and Ruturaj Gaikwad ahead of Dhoni is concerned, Fleming said it was a tactical call intended at giving others a chance, something that Dhoni too touched upon during the post-match ceremony.
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“MS is a specialist towards the end of the innings, always has been. Curran was there trying to hit and keep us in the game at that point when we were falling behind. He’s got good hitting power like we saw.” Fleming said. “Ruturaj...it was his first game and we wanted to get him into the game into the order. We wanted to be aggressive, we’ve got a long batting order and we’re just trying to use our resources smartly.
