IPL 2019 | Many injuries, have to decide right combination, says MS Dhoni

IPL 2019 | Many injuries, have to decide right combination, says MS Dhoni

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MS Dhoni has implied that injuries are hurting his team Chennai Super Kings, and seems worried about the same. Dwayne Bravo, a vital cog in CSK’s setup, is the latest to suffer from an injury, after Lungi Ngidi and David Willey were out of contention even before the start of the season.

MS Dhoni was not very happy with his team’s 37 run loss against Mumbai Indians on Thursday, especially in the manner in which his team let the game slip away from them, after a good start. However, the issue that the skipper is worried the most about seems to be the injury issues with many core players in his side, especially with respect to players who bowl in the death overs. Dhoni said that all rounder Dwayne Bravo is also nursing an injury, which will hurt the Chennai Super Kings big time. Lungi Ngidi had suffered a left side strain in his country’s ODI series against Sri Lanka right before the start of the cash rich league, whereas David Willey had pulled out citing personal reasons, considerably lowering CSK’s death bowling arsenal.

“Bravo has an hamstring injury, we don’t have a few players, we already have some injuries, David Willey isn’t there, he has his own problems, Lungi Ngidi isn’t with us as well, we will have to look at the pitch and then decide on the right combination,” said Dhoni, reported PTI.

The CSK bowlers had started well and sent off the MI openers Quinton de Kock and Rohit Sharma packing for a score of 4 and 13. They next dismissed Yuvraj Singh for a score of 4 before the end of the ninth over. However, Krunal Pandya was dropped on a score of 17 and the duo of Pandya and Suryakumar Yadav went on to stitch a 62 run partnership. 

CSK still had a upper hand as the Rohit Sharma led side were at 125/5 at the end of 18 overs. But it was a blitzkrieg in the end by Hardik Pandya and Kieron Pollard, five sixes and a four, and CSK were suddenly staring at a target of 171. The elder Pandya brother had smashed 25 runs off eight deliveries, and Pollard was not very behind with 17 off 7 deliveries. CSK’s specialist death bowler Dwayne Bravo had leaked 29 runs in the last over.

“We started well, were right on the mark for the first 10-12 overs. Then, a few catches were dropped, a few misfields, the death over bowling wasn’t great. We don’t have bowlers who hit the deck, it was slightly tough on them,” stated the 37 year old.

The skipper also pointed out that the team went wrong with the strategy and that he will have a one on one meeting with the players, and not a team meeting.

“We do have one-on-one plans, we needed to know where we could cut-off the boundaries, which batsmen to target, a boundary less or two could have made a difference to a 10-12 run over or a 7-run over. We needed to build some momentum, but we need to know when to plan for those,” the three time IPL winning captain added.

CSK had started with three back to back wins on the trot, but this match has broken their streak and maybe, their momentum, but the skipper has played down the momentum factor.

“It is a tough thing - this so-called momentum, it doesn’t really matter, a good start from the bowlers will make things tight, once you set the tone, the game goes along in that flow,” Dhoni concluded.

On the other hand, Rohit Sharma was delighted that his team, who are perennial slow starters, have notched up their second win in four matches, mainly owing to match winning performance of Hardik Pandya, both with the bat and the ball. The skipper also pointed out that the pitch was not totally flat, and a total of 170 was a competitive one. 

“We don’t want the headache of winning every game at the back-end of the tournament. It becomes very tough. I thought 170 was a fighting total because there was something in the pitch,” expressed Sharma.

Most analysts would agree that Dhoni’s wicket by Hardik Pandya in the 15th over was the game changing moment, but Sharma did not agree with that. He was of the belief that his team played good cricket throughout the course of the match, and they even started well with the ball, as they dismissed CSK’s openers cheaply, for a score of 0 and 5, then even followed it up with number three Suresh Raina’s wicket for 16.

“If we knock a few wickets with the new ball, we’ll be in the game. That’s probably why I can’t find a game-changing moment in this 40 overs,” said the 31 year old.

Kieron Pollard was also effluent in his praise of the Pandya siblings, both of whom are very vital players in MI’s setup.

“The Pandya boys have been batting well, so being the more experienced guy I have to take the initiative and try to do well whenever I come in,” he stated.

“(Hardik) is phenomenal. For us it’s just about encouraging him and giving him that opportunity. He practices like that,” added the 31 year old.

The Trinidad and Tobago all rounder failed to divulge any details as to why he has not bowled in this edition of the cash rich league yet.

“That’s a question you’ll have to ask the skipper, (Why are you not bowling?)” he signed off.

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