MS Dhoni used the right and left-hand combination brilliantly to upset the Mumbai Indians’ bowling plan as Chennai Super Kings snapped their five-game losing streak against Rohit Sharma’s side.
Chennai Super Kings had changed the game twice in their favor during the opening game of IPL 2020 against Mumbai Indians. Faf du Plessis’ two brilliant catches off Hardik Pandya and Saurabh Tiwary, combined with Lungi Ngidi’s three wickets in the death overs had restricted Mumbai Indians to 162/9. After losing Murali Vijay and Shane Watson cheaply, Ambati Rayudu and Faf du Plessis shared a 115-run stand for the third wicket that put them on course for a big win.
However, when Rayudu fell for 71, Chennai Super Kings stil needed 42 off 24 balls. In a surprise move, Dhoni sent Ravindra Jadeja up the order. The left-hander responded with two fours off James Pattinson but he fell in 17th over. Dhoni or Kedar Jadhav were expected to come out but the Chennai Super Kings skipper pulled off another surprise by promoting Sam Curran. The England all-rounder responded with two sixes and a four to seal the game for Chennai Super Kings.
Speaking about the promotion of two left-handers ahead of him, Dhoni said the ploy was totally psychological. “They still had two spinners remaining, and we tried to intimidate the bowler a bit. I thought we needed to give Jadeja and someone like Sam Curran to go ahead in the batting order and express themselves,” Dhoni said.
‘Totally surprised’
The cameos by Jadeja and Curran ensured that Faf du Plessis could easily finish the game off. However, speaking after the match, Curran admitted that he too was surprised by the move but said that MS Dhoni is a genius
“To be honest, very surprised I went in. He (Dhoni) is a genius and thought. We targeted that over (18th) and I went in with a six or out mentality... sometimes it comes off and sometimes it doesn't,” Curran remarked.
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 "Sam Curran CSK MS Dhoni")
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