Ex-Indian star criticises CSK's tactics vs PBKS – India TV

Ex-Indian star criticises CSK’s tactics vs PBKS – India TV

Image Source : BCCI/IPL Ruturaj Gaikwad and MS Dhoni. MS Dhoni’s performance in the Indian Premier League has been pretty impressive. The former Chennai Super Kings skipper has smashed 110 runs in nine innings at a whopping strike rate of 224.48.  Dhoni’s role in the ongoing season and even in some of the previous ones has been to bat much lower down the order and play the final balls of CSK’s innings. During CSK’s clash against Punjab Kings at the HPCA Stadium in Dharamsala, the former CSK skipper came out to bat even below Shardul Thakur at No.9. Former Indian cricketer Irfan Pathan was not impressed with CSK and Dhoni’s tactics in the team’s clash against PBKS. “MS Dhoni batting at No.9 doesn’t work for CSK, it doesn’t help the team’s cause. I know that he is 42, but he is in solid form. He should be taking the responsibility of batting up the order. He should bat for at least 4 to 5 overs. He is batting for the last over or last 2 overs and that doesn’t serve the purpose for CSK for a long term,” Pathan said on Star Sports.  Pathan said that CSK might qualify for the IPL 2024 playoffs but Dhoni is in form and need to bat up the order. “It might happen that we will see CSK qualify for the playoffs from here on and they need to win 90 percent of their games. As a proper senior guy, who’s in form, he needs to bat up the order. He can’t be doing the same thing that he has done on quite a few occasions,” he added. Batting first, CSK scored 167/9 in their 20 overs on a surface that played slow and low. While Ajinkya Rahane went for another low score of 9. Ruturaj Gaikwad was careful and scored 32 off the 21 balls before falling to Rahul Chahar. Daryl Mitchell looked solid for his 19-ball 30 but the knock from Jadeja was the cornerstone in CSK’s batting. His 43 took the team to 167/9. Meanwhile, none of the Punjab batters could trouble the Super Kings in the run chase. Prabhsimran Singh was the top-scorer for his 23-ball 30 with Shashan Singh being the second-highest run-scorer for the hosts with his 20-run knock. PBKS’ Playing XI: Jonny Bairstow, Rilee Rossouw, Shashank Singh, Sam Curran (c), Jitesh Sharma (wk), Ashutosh Sharma, Harpreet Brar, Harshal Patel, Rahul Chahar, Kagiso Rabada, Arshdeep Singh CSK’s Playing XI: Ajinkya Rahane, Ruturaj Gaikwad (c), Daryl Mitchell, Shivam Dube, Moeen Ali, Ravindra Jadeja, MS Dhoni (wk), Mitchell Santner, Shardul Thakur, Richard Gleeson, Tushar Deshpande

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IPL 2024: Aakash Chopra calls out MS Dhoni for refusing single to Daryl Mitchell against PBKS

IPL 2024: Aakash Chopra calls out MS Dhoni for refusing single to Daryl Mitchell against PBKS

Legendary CSK wicketkeeper batter MS Dhoni has come under fire for refusing a single to his teammate Daryl Mitchell during IPL 2024 Match 49 between PBKS and CSK on Wednesday, May 01 at MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai. During the first innings of the game, Dhoni sliced a low full toss from Arshdeep Singh towards deep extra cover in the last over as Mitchell ran for a single. However, he was denied the run by the former CSK skipper and had to make his way back to the non-striker’s end after almost reaching the striker’s end. Dhoni’s refusal to take a single to his batting partner hasn’t gone down well with some of the fans who are unhappy with the legendary cricketer. Former India cricketer turned commentator Aakash Chopra has also called out Dhoni for his act and said that he wasn’t batting with a tailender and that he chose to keep the strike. “In the end, Dhoni even refused to take a single. It’s fine but Daryl Mitchell is Daryl Mitchell. You were not batting with Mustafizur, no disrespect, but he refused. He hit a six but the runs were never going to be enough, and that’s exactly how it panned out,” said Chopra on his YouTube channel. Notably, Dhoni went on to hit a six on the second last ball of the over before finally getting dismissed for the first time in the ongoing season on the last ball of the innings for 14 (11) while Mitchell remained unbeaten on 1. IPL 2024: Fans slam MS Dhoni Chopra Highlights CSK’s Slow Starts Further speaking ahead, Chopra also called out CSK for their slow starts and not utilising the fielding restrictions in the first six overs of the innings. “You lost the toss here and were invited to bat first. They start slowly. The Chennai Express always starts slowly. They are a locomotive engine that takes time to warm up. They made 50-odd runs in the powerplay. Ajinkya Rahane got out after the powerplay,” he added. IPL 2024 Full Coverage | IPL 2024 Points Table and Standings | 2024 IPL Full Schedule Coming back to the match, after being put in to bat first, CSK went on to score a modest total of 162/7 with captain Ruturaj Gaikwad once again top scoring with his innings of 62 (48). In reply, Punjab chased down the target in 17.5 overs courtesy of brilliant knocks from Jonny Bairstow (46 off 30) and Rilee Rossouw (43 off 23). Following their loss, CSK find themselves precariously poised on the fourth spot on the points table with ten points from ten matches. The Ruturaj Gaikwad-led side will need to win all of their remaining four fixtures for smooth qualification to the playoffs. Published By: Kingshuk Kusari Published On: May 2, 2024

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