IPL 2020 | Wasn't able to middle the ball as I was trying to hit the ball too hard, admits MS Dhoni 

Despite giving a tough fight to SRH at Dubai international stadium, the MS Dhoni-led CSK fell short by seven runs to continue their losing streak as they lost the third match of the season after winning the tournament opener. SRH won their second back-to-back game after they had started off with a couple of defeats to finally put their campaign back on track. CSK's poor death bowling and inefficient batting were laid bare by David Warner's men. 

After the game, MS Dhoni speaking at post-match presentation opined the need for CSK to get things back on track as they have to show more professionalism. He also admitted that in a bid to muscle the ball too hard he failed to time the ball well. 

"I was not able to middle a lot of deliveries, maybe trying to hit the ball too hard. Looking at the outfield, it was subconscious. I'm alright, the throat starts to get dry in these sort of conditions. Long time back, we may or may not have lost three in a row. We have to get a lot of things right. It's the professionalism - dropping catches, bowling no-balls. We're making the same mistakes again. After the 16th over, we had two bad overs," MS Dhoni said at the post-match presentation. 

CSK skipper Dhoni also emphasized on the need to improve in the field and become clinical as in a knock-out game dropping catches can turn out to be crucial in the outcome of the game.  

"We could have been slightly better. Nobody wants to drop catches, but at this level you have to draw a line that these catches have to be taken. Catches like these can really hamper your knockout stage games. What if this was a knockout game? There are plenty of positives in this game. A few areas to improve and we'll come back stronger."

This was the third loss for CSK in the IPL 2020. Priyam Garg's 26-ball-51 and Abhishek Sharma's 24-ball-31 helped SRH post a total of 164 runs after senior batters Bairstow, Warner and Williamson failed to put up a good show. CSK's poor batting again prevailed as barring Jadeja, who made a brilliant fifty and Dhoni, with his late exploits, no one else clicked.