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Video shows Dhoni anticipating, practising run-out seconds before it actually took place in CSK vs SRH IPL 2023 match
Watch Video: How MS Dhoni prepared and practised for Washington Sundar's run-out seconds before it actually took place in CSK vs SRH IPL 2023 match.
MS Dhoni's six-hitting skills, his finishing abilities, his lightning-quick stumpings, his captaincy and game-reading skills - everything is talked about and dissected but how he has been achieving all this with impeccable consistency for close to two decades now is not always discussed at length. The secret lies in the way Dhoni prepares for every situation. It's one thing to anticipate things - which Dhoni does better than most other cricketers going around - but it's another to turn that even into his or his side's favour. It's the second part that goes unnoticed more often.
Dhoni gave first-hand proof of how he anticipates things, prepares for them and then executes his plan with perfection. And he does all that in a few seconds in the middle of an over of a high-pressure game. It happened in the last over of Sunrisers Hyderabad's innings against Chennai Super Kings in an IPL 2023 match at the Chidambaram Stadium on Friday.
CSK pacer Matheesha Pathirana bowled a fast fuller length delivery to SRH all-rounder Marco Jansen. The tall right-hander had very few options but to swing for his life as it was the last ball of the SRH innings. He, however, failed to make any contact. The ball nestled into Dhoni's gloves and the CSK captain, seeing non-striker Washington Sundar running for a bye, knocked the stumps down with a bullet throw and got a run-out. It was brilliant from Dhoni and this was not even the first time he had done something like this. But what made his run-out special was the video that emerged later in the day.
The small clip, which has now gone viral, shows Dhoni taking his right glove off and also loosening his arms to prepare for a throw. So Dhoni actually kept himself fully prepared to inflict a run-out. He not only anticipated but also executed his plans to perfection.
Watch Video: How MS Dhoni practised Sundar's run-out seconds before it actually took place
Before the run-out, Dhoni also took a sharp catch to dismiss SRH skipper Aiden Markram and then inflicted a stumping of Mayank Agarwal.
“It’s a natural talent. I don’t think he (Dhoni) 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,” said CSK head coach Stephen Fleming when asked about Dhoni's keeping skills in the post-match press conference.
As far as the match was concerned, Ravindra Jadeja's three-wicket haul was complemented by a magnificent unbeaten fifty from opener Devon Conway as CSK cantered to a comfortable seven-wicket win. Jadeja (3/22) spun a web of spin with a three-wicket haul to restrict SRH to a below-par 134 for 7 and Conway then slammed a 57-ball 77 not out as CSK made light of the target, reaching 138 for 3 in 18.4 overs for a fourth straight win over SRH.
