MS Dhoni registered his first duck in IPL since 2015, after being dismissed by Avesh Khan in CSK's defeat against DC.
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MS Dhoni and his team Chennai Super Kings’ campaign in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021 started on a poor note. While Dhoni failed to get going with the bat, CSK suffered a crushing 7-wicket loss at the hands of Delhi Capitals (DC) on Saturday at the Wankhede Stadium. CSK managed to post a strong total of 188 for 7 with Dhoni dismissed for a two-ball duck, failing to make an impact on the scorecard.
The CSK skipper lost his wicket while trying to pull a short delivery from Avesh Khan. Dhoni, who was playing his first competitive game since IPL 2020 edged the ball onto the stumps. It was the 39-year-old’s first duck in the IPL since 2015. Apart from Dhoni’s poor performance, Ruturaj Gaikwad (5) and Faf du Plessis (0) failed to deliver too, but CSK still managed to cross the 180-run mark thanks to useful contributions from the likes of Suresh Raina (54), Moeen Ali (36), and Sam Curran (34).
CSK, however, failed to do well with the ball. As dew and small boundaries made things tougher for the fielding side, the bowlers were hit all over the park by the DC batsmen. Openers Shikhar Dhawan and Prithvi Shaw took on the CSK bowlers as they scored blazing fifties. Dhawan scored 85 while Shaw scored 72 as their team beat CSK thrice in a row.
Following Dhoni’s poor return to action and CSK’s heavy loss, former India skipper Sunil Gavaskar has a piece of advice for the veteran skipper. Gavaskar believes that Dhoni should bat a little up the order as he needs to guide the youngsters in his team. The former cricketer-turned-commentator stated that Dhoni needs to change his batting position in order to show the way to his teammates.
“I think as far as CSK is concerned, MS Dhoni also has to take a few calls about his batting order. He came down and he thinks maybe he should bat only for the last four-five overs. But I think he also needs to guides the team a little bit. He has a team of youngsters, some of them are pretty young. Even Sam Curran is not too old as far as international cricket is concerned, and he batted so well. So, yes, maybe he looks at having Sam Curran up the batting order at no. 3 or 4 just like he was in the UAE,” said Gavaskar while interacting on the Star Sports post-match show.
“But Dhoni also has to come up the batting order somewhere down the line. Because that is the way he will be able to control it. He was out on the 2nd ball he faced today, that can happen to anybody. But as the tournament progresses, he has to come at a little bit higher, maybe at 6, maybe at 5, and show the way,” he added.
CSK take on Punjab Kings in their next match of IPL 2021 on April 16.
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