Bhuvneshwar Kumar: Dhoni always tries to be ahead of the game

Bhuvneshwar Kumar: Dhoni always tries to be ahead of the game

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BCCI

MS Dhoni and Bhuvneshwar Kumar faced each other twice in the IPL and both times, MS Dhoni smashed him for 19 runs in an over. Though he does not finish his games as well as he used to, Dhoni still remains one of the few batsmen who has been able to dominate the Indian pace bowler.

Bhuvneshwar Kumar was the Purple Cap holder in last year’s IPL, this year, too, he was miles ahead of all the other bowlers with 26 wickets in 14 matches. However, MS Dhoni was one batsman who was able to tackle the leading wicket-taker on both occasions.

It remained an interesting encounter because Bhuvneshwar is particularly good bowling at the death, while Dhoni utilises the slog overs to loft the ball.

Despite the forgettable numbers the 27-year-old has against Dhoni, he was quick to praise the wicket-keeper batsman’s ability to forsee things in the game. On being asked about his plans while bowling to the former Indian skipper,  Bhuvneshwar, in an interview with Cricinfo, said, “The plan was to bowl length to him because he scores well off yorkers. But when I bowled length, I knew he was expecting it, and Dhoni is one such batsman who always tries to be ahead of the game. So I tried to mix up yorkers and length balls, because he's the kind of batsman that if you miss the yorkers even by a little bit, he is very good at hitting them for boundaries.”

Though Sunrisers Hyderbad was knocked out of the tournament in the Eliminator, they would take pride in being the team having the two players that topped the highest-run getter list as well as the leading-wicket taker list. While skipper David Warner took home the Orange Cap, Bhuvneshwar Kumar was awarded the Purple Cap for the second consecutive time. MS Dhoni featured in his seventh IPL final, making it the most for any player in the history of the league. The two will, however, be wearing the Indian jersey for the upcoming Champions Trophy.

MS Dhoni. on the other hand, featured in his seventh IPL final, making it the most for any player in the history of the league. The two will, however, be on the same side for India's upcoming Champions Trophy defense.

Did you know, Virender Sehwag is the only Indian to have twice scored 1400-plus Test runs in a calendar year.

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