CSK head coach Stephen Fleming opened up on the reason why MS Dhoni can’t be promoted higher up the batting order.
IPL 2024 has been experiencing MS Dhoni’s fandom to its fullest potential. Wherever the India legend has gone with Chennai Super Kings, the crowd has gone berserk by his mere presence. Against Lucknow Super Giants on Friday, the wicketkeeper-batter came to bat in the final delivery of the 18th over.
Chennai Super Kings batter MS Dhoni in action.(PTI)
The 42-year-old ended up smacking an unbeaten knock of 28 runs off nine deliveries, packed with three fours and two sixes, taking CSK to 176/6 in 20 overs. But it wasn’t enough as LSG ended up reaching 180/2 in 19 overs, in their chase of 177 runs.
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Speaking after the match, CSK head coach Stephen Fleming hailed his batting form and pointed that he wasn’t ‘surprised’. “It’s inspirational, isn’t it? His batting this year even in training has been very crisp. The team isn’t surprised with what he is doing because his skill level during the pre season was very high. Other years he has obviously had problems with his knee and he is sort of recovering from that which is why there is only a certain amount of balls he can function well,” he said,
Fleming further opened up on Dhoni’s role, and pointed out his ‘two-three over’ approach. “I think everyone wants to see him for longer as we do but that amount of time is about right. We need him for the tournament and that 2-3 over cameo he is owning that space. It’s up to the rest of the batting unit to get us to a good position where he can push us over the top. He is doing that pretty much every time at the moment which is great to watch,” he said.
Hailing his overall impact, he said, “What an amazing atmosphere when he comes out and does play and entertain, it’s exhilarating. We are incredibly proud of what he has achieved. We marvel at the amount of love that he gets. It’s no surprise with what he has done with Indian cricket and with CSK with us. We are incredibly proud that he is a part of our side and is pretty much the heartbeat of the side. We thoroughly enjoy it. We know we are beneficiaries of the career that he has had and is having. We enjoy every minute of it.”
Against MI, his knock proved to be the difference too. Coming in to bat in the final over of the first innings and with four deliveries to go, the wicketkeeper-batter smoked Hardik Pandya for a hat-trick of sixes and a double, which powered CSK to 206/4 in 20 overs. Chasing 207, MI reached 186/6 in 20 overs, with Dhoni being the difference.
