Live Score
Cricket Teams
Cricket Players
'Used to be very annoyed, irritated with Dhoni': Ex-CSK star's startling revelations about playing against MSD
The former Chennai Super Kings cricketer opened up in detail about MS Dhoni's captaincy tactics and how used to “annoy” the opposition.
The Chennai Super Kings will return to action on Saturday night when the side takes on arch-rivals Mumbai Indians at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. CSK had faced a defeat to defending champions Gujarat Titans in their opening match of the season, but made a strong recovery earlier this week when they defeated Lucknow Super Giants by 12 runs. While CSK put out a strong all-round performance in the game, the side's skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni stole the show with two stunning sixes against Mark Wood during the final over of the innings.
Dhoni had arrived at the crease with five balls remaining in the CSK innings, and smashed Wood off successive sixes before departing on his third delivery.
Over the past few years, Dhoni did lose his batting reflexes significantly and since retiring from international cricket in 2020, the wicketkeeper-batter is exclusively available for the Chennai Super Kings in the IPL. The CSK captain, however, remains an astute tactician and the side's former batter Robin Uthappa spoke in detail about how it was “annoying” to play against Dhoni in the tournament.
Uthappa narrated references from his own playing days, revealing how Dhoni used to “play with batsmen's minds.”
“When I played against CSK, I used to be very annoyed. I was very irritated with him. (Narrating an incident playing on-screen) He didn't have a fine leg for Hazlewood, so I knew he will bowl to this angle (outside-off). I tried getting a boundary there (deep point), and got out. He forces you to play in areas wher eyou're not used to playing,” Uthappa told JioCinema.
The former India and CSK keeper-batter said Dhoni pushes his bowlers to take wickets.
“He plays with batsmen's mind. He not just forces the batsmen to think differently, he forces the bowlers to think differently as well. He puts the bowler in a situation where he feels that he need to take that wicket-taking option.”
Recalling another moment, Uthappa recalled how Dhoni trapped Rajasthan Royals' Devdutt Padikkal.
“Devdutt was playing the pick-up shot really well. So he said, ‘okay, we will force him to play that shot’, and he brought the fine leg more into a leg-gully sort of a position. I was like, ‘where does he come up with these things?’” Uthappa revealed.
