Despite 5th final loss, Dhoni still the chief IPL puppeteer
HYDERABAD: Last ball of the Mumbai Indians innings. Kieron Pollard, upset with umpire Nitin Menon after he does not give a clear wide, has already slapped a boundary through covers.
He is primed to come down the track again but MS Dhoni is readying for any possibility. He tucks in his wicketkeeper’s gloves and shadow practices throwing the ball on the go, in case Pollard misses. He doesn’t. But that move shows the extent to which Dhoni prepares to stay a step ahead.
It was a feverish Sunday night for Dhoni. Mumbai Indians came out guns blazing but so in command looked Dhoni of the proceedings that it seemed on top when Chennai were bowling. Field placements were precise, bowling changes were sharp, but most importantly, he never lost faith in his team.
Thus when Deepak Chahar got a shellacking from Quinton de Kock in his first spell, Dhoni summoned Harbhajan Singh to plug Mumbai’s scoring and allow a change of ends for the beleaguered pacer. It worked like a charm as Chahar came back with a knuckle ball and Rohit Sharma got a feather edge trying to drive. That over was a wicket maiden.
SHARMA’S COUNTER
That wasn’t the only variation tried in the match. Not everyone is adept against the bouncer. Sharma though is an expert, as he exhibited with the first six of the match that was pulled over deep square-leg. However, Krunal Pandya and De Kock were taken by surprise facing skidding deliveries on the rise.
Within two overs, Chahar was again steaming in, clocking above 140 kph and hitting the right length. Three sixes weren’t enough to break Chahar’s rhythm as he continued to go for variations. The one that got Hardik Pandya was a near-perfect yorker on middle stump. That is probably what a captain’s unfailing confidence can do for a young bowler. From 2-0-22-0—21 runs coming off the 11 deliveries bowled to De Kock—chahar finished with 4-1-26-3, match-winning
figures any day, anywhere.
BOWLING RICHES
Dhoni could pull this off only because of Chennai’s bowling riches. Singh came and broke Mumbai Indians’ rhythm before Dwayne Bravo squeezed out a three-run over to put Chennai Super Kings further ahead. By the time the first timeout was taken, Dhoni knew the rampage had been nipped. From 30/0 after three overs, Mumbai slumped to 58/2 after nine.
It was a perfect time to introduce Imran Tahir, who knocked over Suryakumar Yadav and Ishan Kishan and set off on sprints across the Uppal turf, beating his chest like a man possessed.
In between, Ravindra Jadeja—introduced only in the 14th over—quickly bowled two overs, conceding only 12 runs. It takes a Dhoni to not give Jadeja his full quota of overs and still tie down the opposition.
Despite the agonising loss for Chennai, that Dhoni’s instinctive leadership is intact, is great for India heading into the World Cup.